
























































































■ 


































































AND KODACOLOQ 


FROM ALL ANCLES 

















CHIEF BIG SNAKE 

Of all the colorful subjects that intrigue Kodachrome photographers, no subject arouses 
more enthusiasm than does a First American, when he can be caught in full regalia. The author 
is no exception, and many contacts have resulted in some of the finest friendships I have ever 
enjoyed. 

Seldom can one find such a happy combination of forceful character and splendor of color 
as this seventy-five year old Chief presents. Three-quarter’s of a century of vivid experiences 
and vigorous living have etched character into this old Chief’s face, his figure and his bearing 
—as staunch as the pyramidal composition that gives strength to this figure study. 

The range of tone values, from the delicate fluffiness of the feathers to the somber, light 
absorbent black velvet tunic, is a little more than Kodachrome can record with fidelity, due to 
its limited latitude. But since the extremes of light and dark are both simple masses, some loss 
of detail is less objectionable than might otherwise be true with a subject of a different char¬ 
acter. The nicely rendered detail in other areas compensates for the slight loss at the extreme 
ends of the scale. The exposure for this shot was based on a meter reading on the flesh, which in 
this case was fortunately about half-way between readings on the extremes of light and dark. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 10 inch Goerz 
Dagor. The reproduction is four color process, letterpress; plates made from a Wash-Off Relief 
Color Print made from the Kodachrome. 


5 




♦ 

















4 








I 














































AND 



KODACOLOD 


PROM ALL ANCLES 



FRED BOND 

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR 

except where otherwise designated 


CAMERA CRAFT 
SAN 


PUBLISHING 

FRANCISCO 


COMPANY 


7 









TKsslo 

’/ 3 & 



Copyright 1945 

Second Edition 

Camera Craft Publishing Company 

San Francisco 


First Edition, April, 1942 
Second Printing February, 1943 


Printed in the United States of America 
by the Mercury Press, San Francisco 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 


RECEIVED 

APR 151945 qgZ 

COPYRIGHT: OFFICE 




/y-/ 




FOREWORD 


S ELDOM has such a varied, yet related, experience served 
as a background for any book on photography as that 
which the author has drawn upon in producing this 
volume on Kodachrome and Kodacolor photography. 
Literally, the result of thirty years’ intimate association 
in and with the fine and graphic arts are written into these pages. 
Conclusions at which the author has arrived are tempered and 
influenced by a composite experience that includes schooling in 
the fine arts, years spent in the art and photographic phase of 
advertising and graphic arts production, and continuous work in 
Kodachrome since the introduction of this medium more than five 
years ago. 

It will be clear as you read these pages that the author is no 
“snapshot” photographer. Since cut film, professional Kodachrome 
came on the market he has made thousands of exposures under 
almost every conceivable condition, and every shot was made with 
due regard for the exactitude the medium demands if the full 
scope of its capacity for faithfully recording the beauty of this 
colorful world was to be even moderately realized. 

The new medium of Kodachrome, and the still newer one of 
Kodacolor, are both simple and yet complex. Our understanding 
and appreciation of the possibilities in color photography are only 
just beginning to develop. There are many things we do not know, 
there are others that are in the process of becoming conclusive, and 
yet others that are already established as axiomatic. 

The author assumes no authoritative pose beyond that of his own 
intensive study and extensive experience. Rather, he prefers to 
align himself with all those eager color enthusiasts who work with 
Kodachrome with an open mind, an appetite for proof, and in an 
adventurous spirit that accepts the challenge of the yet unknown 
possibilities in the fascinating field of color photography. 

This book can and will be a constant source of both inspiration 
and fact to all who give it study. It is the first complete and 
comprehensive work on the subject of Kodachrome and those 
fundamentals of color that have such an important hearing upon 
satisfactory results. 

Whether you are a beginner or an advanced, proficient worker in 
color photography, this book will not only help you achieve better 
results more easily, hut it will add a wealth of enjoyment through 
helping you develop a finer appreciation for color, all color, in your 
everyday associations with the world in which you work and play. 

The Publisher. 


9 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The author wishes to express grateful appreciation for much helpful 
information and cooperation from many individuals and organiza¬ 
tions, in the px-oduction of this work. Special acknowledgment is 
hereby given the following: 

GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 

THOS. S. CURTIS LABORATORIES 

WESTON ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENT COMPANY 

EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY 

HARRISON & HARRISON 

THE MUNSELL COLOR COMPANY 

MCKNIGHT LABORATORIES 

WABASH PHOTOLAMP CORPORATION 




10 



Page 

Foreword 

Introduction.19 

Chapter 1.21 

“Color and Art '’ 

Color in Art, and its application to Color Photography. 

Chapter 2.23 

“Some Characteristics of Color" 

A discussion of the influence of such characteristics in Color Photography. 

Chapter 3.25 

“Color Composition ” 


An outline of fundamentals of color association. Basic procedures in creating 
color compositions and color harmony. Practical suggestions for improving color 
balance in all color subjects, in both indoor and outdoor Color Photography. 


Chapter 4.49 

“Value Characteristics of Color" 

A new approach to this little understood but most important aspect of Color 
Photography. A discussion of light reflection and absorption characteristics, of 
materials, textures and surfaces, and their influence on color results. 


Chapter 5.61 

“Sunlight Characteristics ” 

An analysis of the color quality of a variety of sunlight conditions, with recom¬ 
mendations for compensating for unbalanced light quality. An outline of meth¬ 
ods of control that will improve every photographer’s color results. 


Chapter 6.69 

“Outdoor Exposure Calculations" 

Detailed procedures for analyzing every type of outdoor color subject in terms 
of all factors that affect exposure calculations. Simple and easily adapted sug¬ 
gestions for everyday use for all color photographers—beginners and advanced 
workers alike. 


Chapter 7.91 

“Kodachrome by Artificial Light" 

A diagramed discussion of light quality, light placement, the effect of reflected 
color casts, special background treatment, etc. Exposure tables for both still and 
movie work. 


Chapter 8.109 

“Kodachrome aiul Photoflash' 

Specific uses of photoflash in ways peculiar to color work—flash as supplemen¬ 
tary light—flash to balance sunlight—flash as sole light source—flash with other 
light sources as supplementary. 


11 











CONTENTS—Continued 

Page 

Chapter 9.121 

“Reflectors and Diffusers” 

A complete outline of methods for balancing lighting to the short scale of value 
or brightness range required for superior color results. 

Chapter 10.131 

“Landscape Problems in Kodachrome” 

A detailed discussion of twenty typical landscape problems in Color Photogra¬ 
phy, with suggestions for applying helpful procedures to your own experiences 
in Color Photography. 

Chapter 11.153 

“Portraits, Costume Studies, Still Life” 

A new and stimulating perspective on this ever popular phase of photography. 

Based on sound art principles and their application to Color Photography. A 
thorough groundwork for the beginner—a new inspiration for the professional. 

Chapter 12.173 

“Photographing Flowers and Gardens” 

One of the color photographer’s most fascinating subjects, discussed in terms 
that will help every flower enthusiast to greatly improve both his color and 
dramatic effects. 

Chapter 13.185 

“Sunsets, Special Effects, Trick Shots” 

Many new ideas and suggestions for out-of-the-ordinary color effects, on both 
indoor and outdoor subjects. 

Chapter 14.189 

“Better Movies in Kodachrome” 

Not a re-hash of conventional black and white techniques adapted to color but 
an exposition of color problems and methods for securing maximum color results 
in movies, in Kodachrome. Color techniques for the color movie enthusiast. 

Chapter 15.199 

“The New Medium of Kodacolor” 

A complete explanation of the process and its possibilities. Suggestions for 
securing maximum results through application of the fundamental rules of good 
Color Photography, and their relation to this new color medium. 

Chapter 16.205 

“Color Correction Filters, Color Meters” 

An authoritative discussion of the function of all such adjuncts to better color 
results. A complete list of all such accessories available. 

Chapter 17.209 

“Checking Lenses and Shutters” 

Inaccurate and unsuitable equipment is the greatest single cause of an immense 
amount of wasted and spoiled color film. Methods for checking shutters and 
testing lenses. A must for every color worker. 

Chapter 18.213 

“Making Color Prints from Kodachrome” 

A non-technical presentation of a subject all color workers should understand, 
to help them to better appreciate the limitations and possibilities of Kodachrome 
film, whether they undertake print making or not. 

Post Script.225 

Alphabetical Index.229 


12 














Page 


COLOR PLATES 

“Mt. Rainier” (on the Jacket) 

“Chief Big Snake” (Frontispiece) . 4 

“Bryce Canyon National Park”.18 

Color Wheel of Principal and Intermediate Colors .27 

Color Composition Diagrams.30-31 

The Five Principal Colors in Juxtaposition.34 

“The Three Dancing Girls”.53 

“Bear Lake, Colorado Rockies”.71 

“The Painted Desert”.71 

Background Treatment for Portrait Studies.89 

Photoflash as the Sole Light Source.107 

“Mt. Baker, Across Baker Lake”.125 

“Grand Canyon National Park”.143 

“Still Life Study”.161 

“A Flower Garden”.179 

Kodacolor Negative and Positive.197 

“Aspens in Autumn Color”.215 


13 




















BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS 

* 

(All black and white photographic reproductions shoivn in these pages, ex¬ 
cept those that are diagramatic or that illustrate equipment or devices, are 
from negatives made direct from the original Kodachrome transparencies.) 


Figure Subject Page 

1 Graph of the Visible Spectrum. 23 

2 Spinning Disc, for checking color. 26 

3 Changing Values with a Spinning Disc. 28 

4 Gray Scale (Value Scale). 29 

5 Value and Intensity Scale. 32 

6 Division of Color Areas. 38 

7 Illustrating Ratio of Areas and Intensity. 38 

8 Complementary Color Pairs. 39 

9 Color Balance including Black and White. 40 

10 Related Color Compositions. 41 

11 Color Balance with equal areas, value and 

intensity . 42 

12 Color Balance with unequal intensities. 42 

13 Color Balance with unequal values and inten¬ 
sities . 43 

14 Adjacently Related Color Schemes. 45 

15 Distantly Related Color Schemes. 45 

16 Four-Color Compositions. 46 

17 Four-Color Compositions. 46 

18 Five-Color Compositions . 47 

19 Five-Color Compositions . 47 

20 Reflective Power of the Principal Colors. 50 

21 Reflective Power of Different Textures. 51 

22 Value Range in Full Light. 56 

23 Value Range in Subdued Light. 56 

24 Bryce Canyon—Light Value Subject. 58 

25 Agate Beach—Darker than Average Subject.. 59 

26 Sunlight Characteristics (graph)—. 61 

27 “Sunset Light”—“Sky Light” (graph).. 62 

28 Reflected Light—Bryce Canyon. 65 

29 Reflected Light—Boy and Duck. 65 

30 Diffused Light—Dancing Girls. 66 

31 Transmitted Light—Aspen Grove. 67 

32 Directing Light Meter Coverage. 74 

33 Meter Reading of Light and Dark Areas. 74 

34 Proper Meter Reading Distance. 74 

35 Making Meter Readings from Proper Angle.. 74 


Figure Subject Page 

36 Meter Readings of Distant Areas. 74 

37 Comparative Sensitivity of Photoelectric 

Cells . 75 

38 Exposing Light and Neutral Colors. 77 

39 Exposing a typical nearby scene. 79 

40 A meter reading diagramed. 80 

41 Snow Scene Exposure Calculations. 81 

42 Gray Cards for Checking Exposures on Dis¬ 
tant Scenes ... 83 

43 Artificial Light Characteristics. 91 

44 Mixing Daylight and Artificial Light. 93 

45 Testing Color Quality of Photoflood Lamps.... 94 

46 Controlling Reflected Light. 95 

47 Using One Front Light. 96 

48 Using One Front Light and Reflector. 97 

49 Front Light Diagram. 98 

50 Using Walls as Reflectors. 98 

51 Two Front Lights, diagram. 98 

52 Using Divided Front Lights. 99 

53 Using a Front and Side Light. 100 

54 Front and Side Light diagram. 100 

55 Front, Side and Background Lights, diagram.. 101 

56 Using Front, Side and Background Lights. 101 

57 Using Front Light and Background Light. 102 

58 Using Front and “Back” Side Light. 102 

59 Diagrams of Figures 57 and 58. 102 

60 Shadowless Background, diagram. 103 

61 Fall-off of Artificial Light. 104 

62 Synchronized Flash to open shadows. Ill 

63 Flash on Extension Cord... 112 

64 Balancing Flash and Sunlight. 113 

65 Flash as the Sole Light Source. 115 

66 Diagram of Lighting Arrangement, Figure 65 115 

67 Flash with other light sources. 117 

68 Multiple Flash Battery Box. 118 

69 Flash in Gun at Camera. 119 

70 Flash on an Extension Cord.. 119 

15 


































































BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS—Continued 


Figure Subject Page 

71 Flash on Camera and on Extension Cord. 119 

72 Two Flash on Extension Cords. 119 

73 Flash on Extension Cord for Side Light. 119 

74 Flash on Extension Cord for Background 

Light .. 119 

75 Graph of the Effective Latitude of 

Kodachrome . 121 

76 Using a Reflector at a Distance. 123 

77 Using a Reflector Close-up. 123 

78 Using a Reflector with Photoflood. 127 

79 Roll-up type Reflector. 128 

80 Rigid type Reflector. 128 

81 Hard Sunlight Shadows. 129 

82 Softening Shadows with a Diffusing Screen.... 129 

83 Combining Use of Reflector and Diffuser. 129 

84 Circular Diffusing Screen. 130 

85 Rigid Diffusing Screen. 130 

86 Boulder Dam . 132 

87 Taos Indian Pueblo. 133 

88 San Xavier Mission. 134 

89 Photographing Clouds . 135 

90 Echo Canyon . 135 

91 Mt. Moran. 136 

92 Wheat Field... 137 

93 Ranchos de Taos Mission. 138 

94 Contrasty Light in Timber. 139 

95 Fog or Overcast Light in Timber. 139 

96 Swimming Pool . 140 

97 Columbia River . 141 

98 Garden of the Gods. 145 

99 Laguna Beach . 146 

100 Mt. Rainier. 147 

101 Fisherman’s Wharf. 148 

102 Zion Canyon National Park.-. 149 

103 Chili Peppers . 150 

104 Shooting Into the Sun. 151 

105 “Pope Innocent X,” by Velasquez. 154 

106 “Erasmus,” by Holbein... 155 

107 “The Lady with a Fan,” by Velasquez. 157 

(Sketch by Kate Bacon Bond) 

108 “Mrs. Seymour,” by Copley. 158 

109 “My Mother,” by Whistler. 159 

(Sketch by Kate Bacon Bond) 

110 The Egg Shape of the Human Head. 165 


Figure Subject Page 

111 “Near-Shadow” Lighting . 165 

112 “Far-Shadow” Lighting . 165 

(Sketches by Kate Bacon Bond) 

113 “Stuart Smith,” by Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 166 

114 “Professor Fraser,” by Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 167 

115 “The Master Plays,” by Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 168 

116 “Dick Swiveller,” by Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 171 

117 “Entr’ Acte,” by Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 171 

118 Still Life Study. 172 

119 Lambert Gardens . 175 

120 Model in Garden Scene. 176 

121 Backlighting Flower Shots, W. A. McKnight.. 177 

122 Diffusing Box for Flower Studies. 181 

123 Flower Shots by Front Artificial Lighting. 183 

124 Flower Shots by Backlighting with Artificial 

Light . 183 

125 Sunsets across Water. 186 

126 Kodacolor in Flat Sunlight. 200 

127 Kodacolor in Side-lighted Sunlight. 201 

128 Kodacolor under Heavy Overcast Sky. 202 

129 Kodacolor with Daylight type Photoflood. 202 

130 Kodacolor with Daylight type Photoflash. 203 

131 Kodacolor, close-up shot, in Flat Sunlight. 203 

132 Eastman Color Temperature Meter. 206 

133 Harrison Color Meter. 207 

134 Device for Checking Shutters, by Lester H. 

Brubaker . 210 

135 Negative of Shutter Check Exposures. 211 

136 Checking Percentage of Shutter Error. 211 

137 Checking Shutter Accuracy on a Degree Chart 211 

138 Filter Method for Testing Lenses. 212 

139 Parallel Lines for Testing Lenses. 212 

140 Graph of Filter for “Contrast Control” Mask.. 218 

141 Graph of Red Separation Filter. 218 

142 Graph of Green Separation Filter. 218 

143 Graph of Blue Separation Filter. 218 

144 Yellow Printer Negative. 220 

145 Magenta Printer Negative. 220 

146 Blue-Green Printer Negative. 220 

147 Yellow Printing Positive. 221 

148 Magenta Printing Positive. 221 

149 Blue-Green Printing Positive. 221 


16 




















































































( 


T HAT urge to pictorially record 
the world you live in is nothing 
new. Your aboriginal ancestors 
expressed that same urge 
through their cave paintings 
long before the Chinese concluded that “one 
picture is worth a thousand words” as a ve¬ 
hicle for conveying facts and ideas. 

The mass popularity of photography has 
been accelerated by the development of in¬ 
struments and materials that have made this 
means of expression so effortless. If one’s in¬ 
terest goes no farther than the mere recording 
of a monochromatic image of a landscape, an 
individual or an activity, he needs remember 
only a few simple rules, press a button and 
the record is captured. 

Others who have leanings toward the more 
artistic have found satisfactory expression for 
their creative instincts through photography, 
in lieu of attempting to become even pleas¬ 
ingly proficient in the fine arts. Some of us 
have no talent for so-called art mediums; most 
of us haven’t the months and years of time 
necessary to develop such talent as we may 
have. 


Now that photography in full, natural color 
has been made available, and its practice 
made so easy through the medium of Koda- 
chrome, a wholly new and infinitely bigger 
world has opened up to and for the photogra¬ 
phy enthusiast, whether his interest be in the 
scope of the creative or the more literal re¬ 
cording of fact. The bounds and bonds of 
monochromatic, two-dimensional limitations 
have been broken by this new medium of 
color. Few if any of us realize and appreciate 
the full import of its potentialities. In our 
modern day sophistication we look upon such 
scientific “gifts” as something to be expected, 
if not demanded, and too often our perception 
as to what is worth-while and what is trivial is 
dulled by that same sophisticated nonchal¬ 
ance. 

To me, this addition of color to our abilities 
in photographic expression is one of the great¬ 
est contributions of the times. Without depre¬ 
cating monochromatic photography in the 
least, this new medium of color can bring a 
greater enrichment to the lives of the millions, 
with less effort, than any other single cultural 
or emotional stimulus. It is as though all our 


BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK 

Few landscape subjects present the color photographer with such a myriad of color moods 
as does Bryce Canyon. Its general color characteristics change with every hour of the day, and 
from every new angle of view or angle of incident light. 

This color shot demonstrates very effectively the maximum use of reflected light. The camera 
looked almost directly into a sun that was only about forty five degrees above the horizon. Not 
only was reflected light the sole source of illumination for the foreground formations, the sig¬ 
nificant fact is that this reflected light was colored light—light reflected from the walls of the 
Canyon. The result is more saturation of color than is present as purely local color in the 
formations themselves. 

Data: The shot was made on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 
514 inch Zeiss Tessar. The reproduction is four color, 200 line deep etch offset lithography. 


19 



music of by-gone days had been confined to 
one or two simple instruments and now, for 
the first time, we can enjoy the full scope of 
complete orchestration. 

It has been said that color photography is 
a statement of fact—that every element in a 
composition must be as completely and per¬ 
fectly portrayed as though it were the subject 
itself. This theory is sound only to the extent 
that such often pleasing practices of mono¬ 
chromatic photography as out-of-focus back¬ 
grounds or diffused outlines seldom if ever 
produce a satisfactory color result. But this 
does not imply that every color photograph 
must, to be a good color result, reproduce 
every color spot and area down to the last 
stitch and pin, with fidelity and absolute real¬ 
ism. That is a common fault of too much pres¬ 
ent day color work—everything in the com¬ 
position competes for attention to the extent 
that one loses sight of the “theme” of the 
picture. 

Color photography, even professionally, is 
still but little beyond a rather elementary de¬ 
velopment as an art medium. Color photog¬ 
raphers, amateurs and professionals alike, are 
still mired down in the mechanics of the me¬ 
dium. To many amateurs the alpha and omega 
of a good color photograph is nothing more 
nor less than a good exposure. When one 
starts, rather than stops with that procedure 
properly accomplished he can then devote his 
mental processes to what really makes a color 
picture; how to create one or how to frame 
and compose and get the best out of what is 
before his lens. Mastery of the mechanics of 
one’s tools is a first essential, quite naturally. 

We will produce better color pictures (cor¬ 
rect exposure taken for granted) when we 
apply known simple rules of color and art to 
color harmony and balance; to color empha¬ 
sis; to color composition. It is my conviction 
that the real progress in the development of 
artistic quality in the color work of the next 


few years will, and should be made by the 
serious amateur, rather than in the ranks of 
the professional. Remember that the majority 
of color shots made professionally and used 
commercially are created and/or dictated by 
the client or his representatives, and that 
there is little opportunity for the photogra¬ 
pher to express more than his technical ability 
in lighting and exposure. And the exigencies 
of business leave him little time for experi¬ 
mentation. 

The amateur is circumscribed by no such 
limitations. He is unhampered in the concep¬ 
tion of his ideas, unhurried in the execution 
of the problem, and undisturbed by outside 
criticism that is irrelevant to the artistic 
merits of the result. So I say, the real contri¬ 
bution to the technique of the color photogra¬ 
phy of the future, and the development of a 
keener public appreciation of what is good 
color may well come from the rapidly increas¬ 
ing number of serious, capable non-profes¬ 
sional workers. 

This book has been prompted by that con¬ 
viction and it is dedicated to that idea. Do not 
be alarmed by the necessity for study and 
practice. Remember, most art students want 
to paint a portrait or a landscape their first 
day at art school, bilt they later understand 
and appreciate that no future progress would 
have been possible had they not first mastered 
the rudiments of their field of art, however 
much some modern art may seem to contradict 
that statement. 

If this book helps the reader develop a 
better eye for color; helps establish certain 
simple but axiomatic rules for work in color; 
and above all, if it stimulates the reader’s 
imagination and quickens his creative in¬ 
stincts it will have more than justified its 
existence. 

All the world about you is color. It is yours 
to capture and enjoy through the medium of 
Kodachrome and Kodacolor. 


20 


CHAPTER 1 


COLOR AND ART 


T his book is not an art course. 

But if we are going to take color 
photography seriously we 
should realize that we are deal¬ 
ing with many new and unfa¬ 
miliar factors that have not entered into our 
calculations in black and white photography. 

There is art aplenty that does not depend 
upon color for its enhancement — sculpture, 
etching, lithography, and of course, the better 
monochromatic photographic illustration. 
These things are the media for the expression 
of line, form and the play of light and shade. 
The quality of the artistic result depends up¬ 
on careful adherence to sound rules of com¬ 
position such as interesting variety and ar¬ 
rangement in shape and mass; dramatic sweep 
of directional lines; the proper relation of 
subordinate elements to the central theme of 
the picture, and many, many others. We know 
and take into account all these rules when we 
express our story in monochrome. 

What happens when we turn to color as our 
medium? We go fortissimo up and down the 
spectrum, from the most violent reddish pur¬ 
ple to the most eye-splitting saffron yellow we 
can lay hands on. It is to be a color picture, 
isn’t it, so why not have color and plenty of it? 

What becomes of our sense of composition? 
Why is it no longer necessary to give the same 
careful attention to size and placement of 
form and line; to have the same regard for the 
emphasis on our central theme and the sub¬ 
ordination of supporting details? The answer 
is that the introduction of color is no substi¬ 
tute for sound pictorial principles. A badly 
constructed picture cannot be made a good 
picture by the mere addition of color, dazzling 
though it may be. 

What one must remember is that color can 
be used to give life and spirit to all the funda¬ 
mentals of good composition. It should be 


obvious that emphasis can be secured more 
easily and can be made more arresting 
through color. For example, let us visualize a 
simple composition like a bowl of red apples 
against a flat blue background. It would call 
for much ingenuity to create emphasis as 
effectively in monochrome. 

Further, color can help create a greater 
illusion of depth or distance; it can help ac¬ 
centuate texture; it can express a mood of 
warmth or coolness; it can produce subtle 
contrasts; it can give animation to otherwise 
lifeless forms; it can generate movement; it 
can be joyous or it can be somber. 

While it is true that some people have an 
“eye” for color in the same way we speak of 
others having an “ear” for music, in both cases 
this faculty usually does not go beyond an 
ability to distinguish the good or pleasing 
from the bad or displeasing. Unfortunately 
this “eye” and “ear” talent does not equip the 
individual to create a good color composition 
nor to compose a piece of music. But before 
we carry this analogy too far you should be 
assured that one can acquire a good working 
knowledge of the fundamentals of color with 
a fraction of the effort necessary to acquire an 
equally usable groundwork in music. Above 
all, do not shy away from a serious approach 
to a study of color because it appears forbid¬ 
ding and ponderous. It is neither. 

First, develop an eye for color. Analyze 
things that please or “jar” you, and try to 
discover why they do. Take critical notice of 
everyday scenes; your environment; interiors; 
shop windows; people on the street; houses; 
gardens; everything about you. You will soon 
commence to see things through different 
eyes, and this matter of what is good color and 
what is not will begin to make sense. 

Just a hint or two will help sharpen your 
perceptions. One of the most obvious begin- 


21 


COLOR AND ART 


nings is to compare massed color with a “salt 
and pepper” intermingling of small spots of 
color. A flower garden, for instance. A bed of 
intermingled flowers of different sizes, shapes 
and hues may create a splash of color, hut it is 
not pleasing because your eye jumps from 
bright spot to bright spot with no place to 
rest. It is a “dizzy” color scheme. Compare 
such a flower bed with one made up of rows 
or masses of all one color in each area and 
you will see the full effect of each mass of 
color, the extent of the effectiveness depend¬ 
ing upon what colors make up the whole 
scheme, and what colors are adjacent. 

Another clue. Notice the difference between 
an eye-arresting display window and another 
that may scream color but doesn’t say any¬ 
thing you can remember. In the first you will 
find everything subordinated to the main 
theme, but subtly supporting it. This “atmos¬ 
phere” enhances rather than detracts from the 
main motif of the picture. Such a prosaic 
illustration is offered as an antidote to any 
suspicion you may have that our discussion is 
going too “arty.” Good color composition is 
good color and good art whether you find it in 
somebody’s kitchen or in the Louvre. 

Our last clue is that of developing an eye 
for color in one least noticed and seldom ap¬ 
preciated aspect of this ramified subject. It 
is, broadly speaking, “reflected” color or the 
color influence of one object or surface upon 
an adjacent one, through reflection. Examine 
a very obvious, commonplace example. Look 
down upon the top surfaces of a black auto¬ 
mobile standing under an open sky. All sur¬ 
faces turned toward the sky will be distinctly 
blue, as you have often noticed. And you are 
seeing the reflected sky color influence in a 
color (black) that supposedly absorbs all 
colors, for black, theoretically is the absence 
of light. Another instance is that of the very 
pronounced blue highlights in black hair 
when viewed under an open sky. 

We have seen these phenomena time and 
again but have not given much thought to the 
fact that this same influence is present all 
around us. Every color has some influence on 
its neighbor. If you could step from the world 
about you into one in which all colors were 
“pure” colors without dilution or influence 
from surrounding colors, and without atmos¬ 
phere, I think you would prefer to have things 


as they are and with no further complaint. 
Sometimes these influences are troublesome, 
but we must first learn to see them and ana¬ 
lyze their effect on our picture. There are 
many ways to eliminate or control them, 
which we will discuss later. 

Failure to “see” these influences gets us all 
into situations from which we endeavor to 
extricate ourselves by placing the blame on 
mistaken causes. To carry this “sky influence” 
a little further, let us say dad takes a color 
shot of young daughter sitting outdoors under 
a clear blue sky. She is dressed in white, posed 
with face slightly upturned to eliminate harsh 
eye and chin shadows. The Kodachrome 
comes back from the processing laboratory 
and dad hits the roof because “they have 
ruined another one of my shots in processing.” 
Dad and mother didn’t mind a little blue cast 
in the hair because some of the hair (on the 
side turned away from the sky) looked “natu¬ 
ral,” and some blue on the shoulders and lap 
part of the dress was not so bad although it 
should have been pure white (so they argu¬ 
ed), but that bluish flesh tint! Why did the 
processing laboratory ruin the peaches and 
cream complexion of their little daughter? 

This little episode is no exaggeration; it 
happens every day. And all because the aver¬ 
age human eye has not been trained to “see” 
color as it is. 

This is not to imply that there is never any¬ 
thing wrong with film or processing, or with 
lenses and shutters. But until you learn to 
see and analyze causes and effects you will 
likely continue to grope through a succession 
of trials and errors that are disheartening to 
say the least. 

Before you wonder why this part of our 
discussion is headed “Color and Art,” and 
what became of the Art, let me remind you 
that the ability to see, analyze and compose 
good color compositions is an art in itself, to 
supplement the art of form, mass and line. 
And again I repeat, the employment of color 
in no way supplants any sound rules of good 
art. It is not true that you must “unlearn” 
good art principles, which you have proved 
and seen proved as good. You must only adapt 
a new technique to those sound fundamentals 
of good pictorial construction that always 
have been and always will be good “art.” 


22 


CHAPTER 2 


SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF COLOR 


B EFORE we get into any discus¬ 
sion of the use of color it may 
clarify some of our thinking to 
consider, first, some of the 
properties of color. 

Without going too deeply into the science 
of physics, from which I might not be able to 
extricate you, much less myself, there are a 
few more or less elementary laws of color that 
we can all understand and can put to good use. 

Heading the list, and one fact to file away 
in your memory for rather frequent refer¬ 
ence, is that nothing has any inherent color. 
There is no such thing as a green tree or a red 
apple or a yellow lemon. None of these nor 
any other object has color except as it is af¬ 
fected by light, (barring luminous objects, 
such as certain animal life, watch and clock 
dials, etc., which have no place in a discussion 
of color photography). The more light the 
more color up to the point of full color satur¬ 
ation. Decrease the amount of light and you 
decrease the amount of the object’s color. 
Carry this to its ultimate conclusion by shut¬ 
ting out all light and the object loses all color. 

Perhaps of next importance is an under¬ 
standing of why a green tree appears green or 
a lemon appears yellow. Every colored object, 


or more specifically, every object that reflects 
color has the property of absorbing, practi¬ 
cally speaking, all the colors in the spectrum 
except that color which we say is its color. 
For instance, the lemon absorbs all the inci¬ 
dent white light except the yellow portion of 
the spectrum, which it reflects. 

Incidentally, it should be remembered that 
an object’s pure local color is reflected only 
when the object is subjected to pure white 
light. This “local” color of an object is altered 
by any change in the color quality or balance 
of the light source. The yellow lemon can be 
made to appear green or red or most any 
other color by lighting it with a colored light. 
As proof that even a white object is not 
“white” except under a pure white light 
source, make this simple test. Look at a white 
card under a weak incandescent light in a 
darkened room. The card appears to be white 
because your brain tells you it is white. Now 
suddenly move the card through a window or 
door opening into full sunlight. The card will 
appear quite bluish until your eyes become 
adjusted to the changed conditions. Or re¬ 
verse the procedure, moving the card from 
sunlight to the influence of the incandescent 
light and the card will at first appear a de- 
cidely yellowish white. 


52 


VIOLET 

X 

BLUE 

A 

GREEN 

A 

YELLOW 


RED 

A 

f 

- > 

f ' 

/ - 


m [ 

f 

\ 


a 

uj v 

< 

CL 


400 500 600 700 

Wave-length in my 

DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRINCIPAL COLORS IN THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM 


23 


















SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF COLOR 


If you are sufficiently interested in analyz¬ 
ing the spectrum and in experimenting first¬ 
hand with a few simple demonstrations in this 
principle of absorption and reflection of color, 
you will enjoy performing the following tests: 

1. Cast a spectrum onto a white card by 
passing sunlight through a simple prism. 
You did that as a youngster but the 
phenomenon meant little more than a 
series of brilliant color bands. It did not 
occur to you that the color in the world 
about you was created by each object’s 
ability to absorb some of these color 
bands and to reflect others. (The color 
bands in the visible spectrum occupy the 
relative positions shown in Figure 1.) 

2. Now that you have broken up or dis¬ 
persed white light into its constituent 
parts you can reassemble those parts 
into a white light unit again by passing 
the spectral bands through a second 
prism, and the beam on the card will 
appear as a spot of white light. All sense 
of color has disappeared. That is simple 
enough but it proves that the human eye 
cannot see the separate visible spectral 
bands in white light without some me¬ 
chanical aid, such as the prism. The 
prism does it by dispersing the beam of 
white light into its constituent radia¬ 
tions because the amount of bending (or 
refraction) each color or wave-length 
suffers when it enters a glass at an angle 
is different. The red ones are bent the 
least and the violet the most. 

3. Let us get at this matter of absorption 
and reflection—the “why” of an object’s 
color. Go back to our two pri^m test. 
Interpose an orange glass in the path of 
the dispersed beam from the first prism 
and with the second prism collect this 
dispersed light, and the cast on your 
white card will be orange, the orange of 
the orange glass. This orange glass has 
passed the red, orange and yellow por¬ 
tions of the spectrum and the second 
prism has recombined them into the 
single color orange. In the process the 
orange glass has absorbed the purple, 
blue and green rays. 

The volume of light transmitted or reflected 
by any colored object is less than the volume 
of light that falls on the object, for a certain 


amount of that original volume is absorbed. 
In the case of the orange glass, the amount or 
volume of light transmitted is the original 
volume of incident white light from which has 
been subtracted the purple, blue and green 
portions. (The glass also dissipates some of its 
own color.) 

In reflection there is still further loss. And 
the degree of this loss affects practically every 
color shot you make, as well as your calcula¬ 
tions in determining proper exposure. This 
loss is due to the fact that colored objects do 
not reflect their own color 100%, and the per¬ 
centage of such absorption varies greatly be¬ 
tween colors, and between different materials 
and textures of the same color. 

Broadly speaking, greens and blue-greens 
do the least efficient job of reflecting their own 
color, and yellow (omitting white as a color) 
reflects the highest percentage of its own 
color. For example, in the very intense dyes 
used in making color prints the blue-green 
color absorbs 45% to 50% of its own color. 
Do not ask me why, it is just the nature of the 
brute! But it does provide a very definite clue 
as to why greens in some of your close-up land¬ 
scape shots appear dark and lack the color 
saturation or intensity which your eye sees. 
Greens at a distance are affected by a lot of 
other factors. You can record the greens as 
they are and as you see them, but a correct 
exposure for those greens would usually be at 
the expense of the other colors. 

Reds and yellows behave more as you would 
have, them do. Some reds reflect as much as 
90% of their own color and the best vellows 
go as high as 97%. Technically speaking, no 
color absorbs all of its adjacent colors in the 
spectrum, but that is getting too deeply into 
the science of the subject and too far removed 
from everyday practical applications. 

Boiled down, the color characteristics we 
have been discussing indicate that the volume 
of reflected light from each color in a vari¬ 
colored composition (assuming it is evenly 
lighted) varies greatly. If our composition is 
equally divided into three areas of yellow, red 
and green, of the same material and texture, 
the yellow may require only half the neces¬ 
sary exposure for the green, for faithful repro¬ 
duction of each. But these are not hazards 
that cannot be effectively controlled, as we 
shall see later on in our discussions. 


24 


CHAPTER 3 


COLOR COMPOSITION 


I F YOU will permit another compari¬ 
son of color with music I believe we 
can get away to a flying start in our 
consideration of what we mean by 
color composition or color arrange¬ 
ment. 

First, color is a sensation recorded in or by 
the human eye mechanism and translated by 
the brain as yellow, red, blue, green, purple 
and so on. Musical notes are vibrations re¬ 
corded by the ear. 

Second, each color in the visible spectrum 
is, in a way, as distinctly an individual color 
as the individual notes of music. How many 
musical notes or tone vibrations can be re¬ 
corded and distinguished by the human ear 
I do not know, but the visible spectrum has 
been broken up into more than one thousand 
separate color bands by the scientists. For 
some reason I am not able to explain, the 
untrained eye cannot make as sharp distinc¬ 
tion between adjacent color bands as even the 
untrained ear can in distinguishing and iden¬ 
tifying two adjacent musical notes. Thankful 
we should be that for our present discussions, 
at least, we need not carry our basic color 
divisions and subdivisions beyond the ten 
shown in the Color Wheel on the second page 
following. 

Third, each of these colors, by itself, may 
be called a pleasing one; your preference for 
one above another being merely a matter of 
taste. In the same way one might say each 
note in a musical scale is just as pleasant to 
the ear as its neighboring note or as one an 
octave or two up or down the scale. At least 
each note is “harmless,” so to speak, when 
struck alone. But a different situation is cre¬ 
ated when two notes are struck simultaneous¬ 
ly. They may create harmony or discord. 
Strike three or more and your chance of dis¬ 
cord is multiplied. If it is a discordant com¬ 


bination the resulting “clash” of an inhar¬ 
monious chord drowns and prevents any 
possible pleasurable sensation that any one 
note of the discordant group might create 
when struck alone. The fault lies not with the 
individual notes or colors, but in the lack of 
any harmonious arrangement or combination. 

By the same rule a one-color composition is 
practically fool-proof, at least to the extent 
that there can be no clash of colors. There is 
no such thing as a one-color composition, you 
say? Literally, you may he correct if you 
visualize some such thing as a piece of colored 
paper or just the expanse of a cloudless blue 
sky. But if we take a little liberty with what 
you might call “one color,” there are many 
opportunities for such compositions and many 
pleasing ones at that, and ones that have 
subtle and unusual variations of color one 
could never secure by merely color toning a 
black and white print. 

When we associate two or more colors in a 
single composition we create either discord or 
harmony just as surely as we do when two or 
more musical notes are struck simultaneously. 
One or the other result will inevitably follow. 

If you want to shoot color pictures that are 
more than just loud splashes of color you 
should give some thought to the basic rules 
of color and good color arrangement. And the 
more thought the better, regardless of the 
seeming accuracy of your “eye” for color. 
Again I am constrained to repeat that this is 
not a course in art. It is merely a simple set 
of “formulas,” if you please, to help you “see” 
color, and the exposition of certain element¬ 
ary rules that will, with practice, become as 
automatic in your mental processes as your 
disciplined ability to construct a good pic¬ 
torial composition or frame an interesting one 
from an average landscape. 

We can illustrate m&ny of these points more 


25 


COLOR COMPOSITION 


effectively in the negative because, fortunate¬ 
ly, there are fewer things “not to do” than 
there are possibilities for pleasant and satisfy¬ 
ing results. In any event it should be under? 
stood that the color “diagrams” shown on the 
next few pages are not suggested color 
schemes. Many of them illustrate what to 
avoid in color selection and arrangement. 
Others emphasize certain color relationships. 

The diagrams are used instead of actual 
color illustrations to purposely avoid any 
realistic suggestions of objects or things. No 
one should dictate color schemes for your use, 
for to do so would only circumscribe your own 
thinking and originality. And you surely want 
to do your own thinking. That is one good 
reason why you get so much personal satis¬ 
faction from this medium of photographic 
expression. It is a very personal expression— 
keep it that way—you will be happier and 
will make more real progress. 

Further, to suggest definite color schemes 
would tend to limit your production of any 
color compositions to more or less literal 
copies or close imitations of the ones sug¬ 
gested. But, you say, if one assumes that the 
ten colors shown in the Color Wheel consti¬ 
tute a sufficiently practical division of the 
visible spectrum, the opportunity for variety 
is limited. 

But there is no such limitation as may ap¬ 
pear. There are something like eighty keys in 
a standard piano keyboard but there have 
been thousands of musical compositions writ¬ 
ten for the piano and no two of them exactly 
alike. There are several times eighty distinct 
and easily identifiable variations of our basic 
ten colors with which we can work. 

Before we start any subdivision of the ten 
colors (or hues) incorporated in the Color 
Wheel on the opposite page it must be made 
clear that the limitations.of flat color printing 
plus the added limitations of such a medium 
in creating the Intermediate colors through 
printing one Principal color over another 
Principal color cannot produce the exact color 
nor the maximum intensity of each color in 
any of the ten shown. The colors given must 
be considered only as “labels” to designate 
color names or hues. When we refer to Red 
we mean the purest and most intense Red 
that can be produced in pigment. And when 
we say Red we mean a Jled that is neither on 
the Purple side (as is the red used in process 


printing, in color print making, and in Koda- 
chrome dyes), nor one that is on the Orange 
or Yellow-Red side. It is just pure Red, un¬ 
adulterated by its adjacent spectral bands. 
This holds equally true with the Yellow, 
Green, Blue and Purple, of course. 

These five we call the Principal colors be¬ 
cause they are the most easily identified bands 
in the visible spectrum and are the five colors 
you would instantly name as comprising the 
principal colors of the rainbow. There are 
more scientific reasons for this selection but 
a more thorough exposition of the Munsell 
Color System than is justified here would need 
be made to carry the explanation to its ulti¬ 
mate conclusion. 

The intervening five colors, the half steps 
between the Principal colors, we call the In¬ 
termediates. These are all made, as you will 
notice, by mixing the Principal colors imme¬ 
diately adjacent. For that reason, and for 
definite identification of their origin we call 
these colors Yellow-Red, Green-Yellow, Blue- 
Green, Purple-Blue and Red-Purple instead 
of such confusing names as orange, citron, 
turquoise, violet and magenta. 



method for testing color balance. 

Even the simplest phenomena are most 
easily understood when one can demonstrate 
such behavior as the mixing of two colors to 
make a third, as in the case of the five Inter¬ 
mediate colors in our Wheel. If you want to 
make such a test, cut a circle from heavy 


26 



P. ED 



THE COLOR WHEEL 

This Wheel designates the five Principal Colors or Hues of the visible spectrum, which are 
Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple (Violet). The five hues occupying the in-between segments 
are known as the Intermediates. All of them are made through mixture of the two Principal 
Hues immediately adjacent to the Intermediate which they create through admixture. 

Many color theories employ twelve divisions instead of ten. The two extra hue divisions 
being a split of the above Yellow-Red into three divisions. The one nearest Red being^ called 
Red-Orange, the above Yellow-Red being designated as Orange, and a division between this and 
Yellow being known as Orange-Yellow. As a painter’s pallette the twelve hue divisions are 
desirable, but such a split of the spectrum is confusing in proving scientific color balance. 

In the ten division arrangement used here, hues directly opposite across the Wheel are 
known as Complementary Hues. That is, when mixed they tend to destroy the identity of each, 
and will produce a neutral gray when mixed in equal portions of the same Value and Intensity. 

The “Hue” names used in this Wheel are those employed in the Munsell Color System. 
Neither the nomenclature nor this designation of “principal” and “intermediate” hues is to 
be confused with established “Tri-color” photographic and graphic arts theories and procedures. 


27 






COLOR COMPOSITION 


cardboard some six or seven inches in diam¬ 
eter, punch a hole a quarter of an inch on 
either side of center and run a four foot length 
of string through the holes and tie ends to¬ 
gether. (Figure 2.) You now have the old 
button spinning trick every kid has done some 
time or another. It is the simplest device for 
whirling the card disc at rather high speed 
unless you have a small electric motor on 
which you can mount such a disc. If you 
have, so much the better because your per¬ 
ception of the mixed color will not be influ¬ 
enced by the pause when the card disc re¬ 
verses direction on the string. 

Now cut two discs of colored card in which 
you cut a radius so you can slip a portion of 
one colored disc behind the other, leaving 
portions of each color exposed. To start with 
you might try a Red and Yellow card, expos¬ 
ing half of each. When you spin the super¬ 
imposed cards you will see only a definite 
Yellow-Red or orange color. If the resulting 
Yellow-Red mixtures appears too Red then 
the Yellow is not sufficiently intense to off¬ 
set the intensity of the Red. To compensate, 
turn the Yellow disc to cover more of the Red 
and to expose more of the Yellow. You can 
continue such adjustments until you have 
produced a Yellow-Red that appers to he ap¬ 
proximately half way between the Red and 
Yellow of the two cards. Now check the per¬ 
centage of the exposed areas of the Red and 
Yellow. If one-third of the area of the com¬ 
plete circle is Red and two-thirds is Yellow 
it means that it has required two parts of 
Yellow to offset one part of Red. 

Now that you have demonstrated the mix¬ 
ing of two Principal colors to create an Inter¬ 
mediate you have, in the process, established 
the origin of all colors, for any new color 
from here on ad infinitum must be made 
through mixture of two or more of these ten 
colors. 

Color Virtues 

But that seemingly endless variety is limit¬ 
ed, comparatively speaking, until we intro¬ 
duce the two important “dimensions” of any 
and all colors. These two dimensions are (1) 
Value and (2) Intensity. By Value we mean 
the relation of any color to the amount of 
light it reflects or absorbs, or more properly, 
the percentage of the incident light it both 
reflects and absorbs. At that point where it 


absorbs all or most of those spectral bands 
“foreign” to its “natural” color and at the 
same time reflects the maximum amount of 
its own color is the point or step on the Value 
or Gray Scale we designate as that particular 
color’s inherent Value. This assumes the light 
source is pure white light and that the volume 
of light is such as to strike this balance. In 
simple terms, and without regard for the ele¬ 
ment of Intensity, Value is the amount of light 
reflected by a color, and that amount varies 
in direct relation to the amount of incident 
light. For example, let us view a piece of sky 
blue fabric under a very weak white light. 
It will appear to be a much darker blue than 
when viewed under more normal light condi¬ 
tions; diffused sunlight, for instance. Now 
place the fabric under a strong, concentrated 
spotlight and it will appear to be a much 
lighter blue. But all the time you have been 
seeing the same blue, as far as color name 
goes, but your various light conditions have 
produced blues of three different Values. 


3 White mixed with Blue, when spun on the 

disc, will produce a lighter Value Blue. Black 
added will produce a darker Value Blue. It 
is still the same “kind” of Blue. 

If you want to play with the spinning disc 
toy again, you can very effectively demon¬ 
strate this principle of Value changes. If you 
want to use the blue we have been talking 
about all you will need in addition is a pure 
white card disc. (Figure 3.) Adjust the disc 
with only enough blue exposed so that when 
the discs are spun the illusion will he a faintly 
blue-white cast. That is the lightest Value of 
that blue, practically speaking. You create a 
blue of slightly darker Value by decreasing 
the amount of the white disc exposure and by 
exposing, automatically, a little more of the 
blue disc. When you have eliminated all the 
white disc you have the original blue color 
only. The Value of this blue, without addition 
of the white from the card is what we might 
call that blue’s inherent Value. Now that we 




28 


COLOR COMPOSITION 


4 

All photographers are fa¬ 
miliar with a Gray Scale, 
or Step-Wedge of Black 
and White tone values. 
One property or “dimen¬ 
sion” of color is Value, 
and every color has a 
black and white value 
that closely corresponds 
to one of the eleven divi¬ 
sions in the Gray Scale 
represented here. More 
easily understood is the 
obvious fact that a color 
is “light” or “dark.” That 
characteristic is known as 
the color's Value. 


ESI 


!_ 


H 

m_ 

I 





1 

i 


I 


a 





have come down the Value scale to the color’s 
inherent Value we can then introduce a Black 
disc with the blue one and when the combina¬ 
tion is spun we get a blue of darker Value; 
how dark depends upon the proportion of 
Black to blue. To preserve a color that can 
be identified as Blue it is obvious that we 
cannot add the same proportion of Black to 
blue as we can White to blue, and still dis¬ 
tinguish the result as a Blue color. The addi¬ 
tion of White is synonymous with adding 
white light. The addition of Black is as 
though we decreased the intensity of incident 
light, and as we approach Black we approach 
a condition we can describe only as the “ab¬ 
sence of light.” 

This simple addition and subtraction of 
light is what determines the Value of a color. 
And that same law applies to all colors re¬ 
gardless of their “inherent” Value or their 
intensity. 

To keep these Value distinctions from be¬ 
coming too subtle and thereby confusing, we 
can simplify our tabulations into nine orderly 
steps or gradations alongside a typical “Gray 
Scale,” with White at the top, as the tenth 


step, and Black at the bottom which we will 
designate as Zero, since it represents the ab¬ 
sence of light. (Figure 4).) The lightest Value 
of any color is represented by the gray scale 
step nearest white, and the darkest Value of 
that color corresponds to the gray scale step 
nearest Black. Alongside the gray scale we 
can now imagine a color step-wedge, similar 
in gradation to those of the gray scale except 
it is in color instead of black and white. 

The Value of colors is such an important 
aspect of color photography that it deserves 
the separate chapter which follows, and is 
there discussed in detail in its relation to ex¬ 
posure calculations, et cetera. 

Color Intensities 

Up to now we have subdivided our original 
ten colors only through the addition or sub¬ 
traction of light, to create a whole new range 
of Values. 

The second “dimension” of color, “Inten¬ 
sity,” may, at first glance seem a little compli¬ 
cated, but it is really quite simple and easily 
understood. That is if I can explain it so it 
can be understood. Do not confuse “Value” 
and “Intensity,” for they are distinctly differ¬ 
ent color characteristics. 

As a start on what we mean by reducing 
the intensity of a color nothing describes bet¬ 
ter what happens than the commonplace ex¬ 
pression “graying a color,” or the resultant 
“grayed” color. You have used and heard the 
term repeatedly but few people understand 
what actually takes place in the process of 
graying a color, which is another term for 
reducing intensity. 

First, remember the scale of “Values” of 
black and white; the Gray Scale previously 
illustrated and described. For simplification 
we divided that into eleven steps, white being 
at the top, then down the scale through nine 
steps of gray, with black at the bottom. This 
is a scale of gradations of gray and absolutely 
colorless, you understand. 

Second, for the moment you will have to 
accept my word for the fact that every color 
at its greatest intensity has a Value that cor¬ 
responds closely to one of the divisions in 
the Gray Scale. For instance a certain kind 
of Red, at its maximum intensity, corresponds 
in Value to No. 5 division of the Gray Scale. 
That is that Red’s “Value.” 

(Continued on page 32) 


29 




















COLOR COMPOSITION 



The color diagrams on these pages are necessarily 
limited in scope due to the limitations of flat color 
printing, utilizing only the five Principal colors shown 
in the Color Wheel. None-the-less these elementary 
demonstrations have practical application in problems 
of color composition. The above diagrams emphasize 
the most uninteresting of color arrangements—that of 
equal areas of two (approximately) Complementary 
Colors of strong intensity. This association results in a 
clashing, vibrating and altogether displeasing effect. 



In comparison with the association of equal amounts 
of intense colors a better arrangement is illustrated 
above. A small area of pure Green and a smaller area 
of intense Red is silhouetted against a larger area of 
weaker intensity Green. A third color of darker value, 
created through mixing the two Principal colors Red 
and Green, adds strength to the scheme. An arrange¬ 
ment of this sort gives variety in division and size of 
areas, as well as the effect of more colors than the two 
employed. 




Two colors of light value or two of dark value, when 
immediately adjacent, visually “fuse” or blend where 
they meet, with a visual loss in the intensity of both 
colors. The more nearly they are complementary, the 
more this is apparent. If the two light colors are 
separated with a narrow band of black or a dark value 
color, each of the light colors immediately recovers its 
visual purity. Likewise, two dark colors similarly 
separated by a band of white or a light value color, 
stand out in their true color quality. 


The above diagram rather effectively demonstrates the 
color harmony that may be secured through use of 
Related colors. If you will check this diagram with 
the Color Wheel you will note that it is made up of 
all colors from Blue to Yellow. The Blue and Green 
combine to make a Blue-Green, and the Yellow and 
Green combine to create a shade of Green-Yellow. 
The Blue, Green and Yellow are also employed as pure 
colors. Study the Color Wheel for other suggestions 
for Related color schemes. 


30 









COLOR COMPOSITION 



This demonstration emphasizes that three pure colors 
in relatively equal amounts produce but little better 
color harmony than does the same kind of association 
of two strong colors. Of four or five, for that matter. 
One of the first laws of good color composition is an 
interesting division of color areas, and in such asso¬ 
ciation that there is color emphasis on the principal 
points of interest. Any one of these colors alone may 
be pleasing, but they compete with each other unless 
properly associated. 


This design employs the same three colors as the crude 
blocks of color at the left. But since these colors are 
all of light value, their purity and intensity can be 
accentuated by surrounding them with black. The 
same result, in a modified way, could be accomplished 
through the use of a very dark value color instead of 
black, although less effectively. Remember that the 
introduction of black, white or neutral gray does not 
affect color balance—it only changes the over-all value 
of the composition. 



One characteristic of color that should always be re¬ 
membered is that colors are, by their very nature, 
either “advancing” or “ receding” colors. There is a 
subtle dividing line on certain colors, but the most 
obvious fact is that Reds are advancing colors and that 
Blues are receding ones. When a foreground object, 
like the figure above, is a receding color silhouetted 
against a background of an advancing color, the effect 
is the reverse of that desired. Reverse the color scheme 
and the figure would come forward. 



The above is a very elementary illustration of a com¬ 
monplace association of advancing and receding colors. 
The barn would retain its foreground importance in 
any kind of Red or Yellow-Red, or even in Purple-Red. 
The Blue (or Purple-Blue) hills of any landscape 
recede into the distance, further stepped back through 
the influence of the intervening atmosphere. What is 
true of color characteristics in expansive scenes is 
equally true of colors in closeup compositions, minus 
the graying effect of the distant atmosphere. 


31 

















COLOR COMPOSITION 


r 


I N T E N 5 ITI 
_ K_ 


E S 


THEORETICAL 

WHITE 



10 

9 

8 

7 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 









R 

:d 






GRl 

LEN • 

BLUE 

• PUR 

>LE 








iPURf 

1 

>LE-Bl 

-UE 

: 


5 

VALUE AND INTENSITY SCALES 

Each color, at its maximum intensity, has an inherent “Value" that 
closely corresponds to one of the eleven steps in the Value Scale. 
Yellow has a Value that corresponds to step 8, and Red a Value close 
to step 5, and so on. The Intensity of a color is reduced through adding 
to it a neutral Gray of the same Value as that color’s inherent one. As 
difficult as it is to convey this characteristic in black and white, the 
Gray steps above in the Yellow band indicate, roughly, that the Inten¬ 
sity of Yellow would be reduced through addition of Gray of step 8. 
The more Gray the weaker the Intensity of the Yellow, until all Yellow 
is eliminated, at which point we arrive at a pure neutral Gray at Value 
step 8. 


THEORETICAL 

BLACK 


10 


1 



± 

VALUE 

SCALE 


Third, we now want to “gray" this intense 
Red, and while we are at it we will produce 
ten steps of Intensity of this Red. We will 
call the original Red step No. 10 (See graph 
above). To create the first grayed step, which 
we will designate as No. 9 we take, for the ex¬ 
periment, ten ounces of No. 10 Red and one 
ounce of Gray (neutral, colorless Gray), the 
No. 5 gray in the Gray Scale, because we have 
previously determined that our original Red 
has a Value of 5. But since we want the same 
resulting volume of grayed color each time, we 
will set that volume at ten ounces. So we pour 


off one ounce of the Red and then add the 
one ounce of the Gray to the remaining nine 
ounces of Red. The result is ten ounces of 
Grayed Red (of same No. 5 Value, mind you), 
which we call No. 9 Red. 

For the next step we take only eight ounces 
of our pure Red to which we add two ounces 
of the original neutral Gray. We now have 
Grayed Red No. 8. For step 7 we use seven 
ounces of pure Red to three ounces of neutral 
Gray. For step 6, six of Red and four of Gray; 
for step 5 five of each; for step 4 four ounces 
of Red to six of Gray; for step 3 three and 


32 











































COLOR COMPOSITION 


seven; for step 2 two and eight and for step 
1, one ounce of Red to nine ounces of Gray. 
You need not make the experiment to visual¬ 
ize that our new Red No. 1 is really nothing 
more than a “pinkish” Gray, and a Gray of 
the same Value as the No. 5 neutral Gray in 
the Gray Scale. It is also obvious that the next 
step in the “graying” process would be ten 
parts of Gray with none of Red. We have not 
changed the Value of the original Red be¬ 
cause we have added neither more White nor 
more Black. While the foregoing test implies 
that it involves the use of artist’s paints, the 
same results could be secured with the spin¬ 
ning disc idea, employing a combination of 
a Red disc with another of Neutral Gray, and 
accomplishing the comparable result of vari¬ 
ous steps of Grayed Red by starting with nine- 
tenths of the Red disc exposed to one-tenth of 
the Gray disc, and then eight and two, seven 
and three, and so on. 

The procedure of “graying” any color, or 
any color of any value is the same. It means 
the mixture of the original color with neutral 
gray of the same value. To use a gray of a 
lighter or darker value than the color with 
which it is to be mixed confuses our thinking 
because in so doing we would change both the 
Value and the Intensity of the original color 
at the same time. Not that you cannot nor 
should not do so in actual practice, but in our 
consideration of the characteristics of color 
changes we should think in terms of each 
“dimension” (value and intensity) separately. 
It may be a little unscientific to state that the 
degree of Intensity of a color is the distance 
it is removed from a neutral gray, but the 
definition seems appropriate. This would 
merely be carrying our experiment in reverse, 
which is easier to think about than do, as you 
can readily appreciate. 

It must be remembered that some colors, at 
their greatest intensity, are less intense than 
others because certain colors reflect a higher 
percentage of their own color from the inci¬ 
dent light than do others. This fact has a very 
definite bearing on exposure calculations, as 
we shall discuss later. Also, every color can be 
carried to its greatest intensity at one definite 
value only. To illustrate, the most intense 
Yellow is high on the Value Scale, toward the 
white. (See Figure 5.) Red, at its greatest 
intensity is the most intense color of them all, 
but at its greatest intensity it is lower on the 


Value Scale than is Yellow at its maximum 
intensity. Certain Blues and Purples are most 
intense quite low on the Value Scale. 

While all this preliminary consideration of 
color theories may seem somewhat irrelevant 
to the subject of Kodachrome photography, 
may I assure you emphatically that it is not. 
For best color results you must have good 
color arrangement. To be able to create and 
analyze good color arrangements you must 
know something of color, and just as impor¬ 
tant, you must be able to “see” color as it is 
and not just as you think it is. Remember, 
the film sees color “mechanically” as it has 
no brain with which to make compensations. 

And I will venture the opinion that you 
will enjoy and appreciate the color every¬ 
where about you; will get more of a thrill 
from subtle and especial color effects when, 
as and if you develop a better “eye for color.” 
You will be more sensitive to harmonious or 
discordant color, and you will know what pro¬ 
duces these results. This cultivated apprecia¬ 
tion is all very worthwhile entirely aside from 
your use of the knowledge in your color pho¬ 
tography. But perhaps more to the point, this 
knowledge will give new impetus and direc¬ 
tion to your color picture shooting, and a 
sound foundation for intelligent analysis of 
the results of your photographic efforts. 

Now that we have worried our way through 
what, at times, may have seemed unnecessary 
and burdensome' details, let us try some color 
arrangements incorporating some of the the¬ 
ories we have been discussing. 

One-Color Compositions 

You may recall our previous suggestion that 
there is such a thing as a One-Color Compo¬ 
sition, and you probably mentally challenged 
that assertion at the time. But now that we 
understand how we can “break-up” a single 
color into quite a number of variations 
through changes in its Value and Intensity, 
you can easily visualize what might constitute 
any number of pleasing one-color composi¬ 
tions. 

For example, we might compose one of all 
blue but still have a wide range of apparent 
color differences or variations and still use 
the same blue. In the range of blues we could 
have one area of pure blue, another area of 
the same blue but of a lighter Value, and yet 
(Continued on page 38) 

33 



■■■■■ 



THE FIVE PRINCIPAL COLORS (OR HUES) IN JUXTAPOSITION 

The above color diagrams must not be construed as desirable or recommended color schemes, in the manner in 
which the colors are associated. Rather, this chart is a reminder of what effect one color has upon another when 
placed immediately adjacent. If you will follow through the diagrams you will notice that each of the five colors 
in the squares is bordered on two sides by one of the remaining four colors. In like manner you will find each of 
these combinations in reverse order. For instance, one Red square is bordered in Yellow, and one Yellow square 
is bordered in Red. In both cases the same two colors are adjacent, but the resulting effect is quite different, due to 
the difference in area each occupies. 

The second color characteristic illustrated in these color blocks is the color that results from the mixture of the two 
colors in each square and border. The color dot on each square is created through printing the border color on top 
of the color of the square. 

A third product of this association and mixture of two colors is the extent to which one color tends to dominate 
another, when one is inherently the stronger color. For example, Red on Yellow, or Yellow on Red produces a 
color much closer to Red than to Yellow, because the Red dominates the Yellow. In the case of a mixture of Blue 
and Green, neither dominates, but the result is a Blue-Green of a darker value than either of its component colors. 
A careful study of the chart will reveal many other equally interesting attributes of color association and admixture. 


34 











































































PINNACLE ROCK, MONTEREY RAY 


This type of subject, in kind of color and in the reflective power of the surfaces (with the 
exception of the foreground tree) is an ideal one for Kodachrome. Even though the water is 
comparatively dark in color it reflects a maximum amount of light, considering its value. This 
fortunate condition brings the water’s value closer to that of the light colored rock, thereby 
shortening the value range and bringing them within the possibility of faithful color rendition of 
both these principal areas in the composition. 

The foliage of the foreground tree is in full, flat light, which helps preserve the color in 
such areas that would normally go too dark, especially in instances like this scene which calls 
for a shorter exposure than would an “average” subject. 

More side-lighting on the rock would have given it better surface texture, but such break 
up in pattern might have detracted from the postery feeling of the simple mass silhouetted 
against the more or less flat blue of the background. The shot was made in this light because 
it was felt that the foreground water pattern was a sufficient break up of the lower portion of 
the composition. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 5% inch Zeiss 
Tessar; Filter, Harrison Coralite C 1 /^. The reproduction is four color, 200 line deep etch offset 
lithography. 


37 


COLOR COMPOSITION 


still another area of a still lighter blue which 
most of us would call a “tint.” Toward the 
other end of the scale we could have a darker 
value blue, and on down toward blues of such 
dark value that they would be barely distin¬ 
guishable in color. We could subdivide our 
color selections still further through the use 
of blues of different Intensities, of the same 
or different Values than those already used. 

You may say that this isn’t much of a color 
problem, but it is more of a problem than you 
think. Since you have no color contrasts in 
such a color scheme you must get your con¬ 
trasts through use of extremes in Values and 
Intensities. And most one-color compositions 
can be strengthened by a judicious addition 
of white or black, or both, for accents. 

Two-Color Compositions 

For our present study we can group all such 
color combinations into two classifications. 
First, Complementary color schemes; second, 
Related color schemes. We must refer again 
to the Color Wheel (page 27) for selection of 
either type of color combination. To start with 
the Complementary group we find such com¬ 
binations as Red and Blue-Green, Yellow and 
Purple-Blue or Green and Red-Purple and so 
on around the Wheel. You understand that 
each color’s complement is that color directly 
opposite through the axis of the Wheel. 

We will arbitrarily select the combination 
of Red and Blue-Green, but whatever is true 
of this combination applies equally to any 
other combination of complementary colors. 

< n 


6 As indicated more effectively on page 30, the 

most uninteresting association of color is that 
of equal areas of pure colors of equal inten¬ 
sity and value. 

From the standpoint of pleasing arrange¬ 
ment, whether in monochrome or color, we 
would never divide a square or circle or a 
rectangular area into two equal halves. (Fig¬ 
ure 6.) That’s the most monotonous possibili¬ 


ty. To the element of monotony, when we 
place an area of one color of strong intensity 
alongside an equal area of its complementary 
color (of the same intensity), we not only 
have a monotonous division of areas in point 
of composition but we have two strong colors 
competing for attention on equal terms. The 
combination lacks a theme or point of inter¬ 
est, or whatever you wish to call it. The sen¬ 
sation created is unpleasant because there is 
no place for the eye to rest. Such a color 
arrangement might be- called “loud,” or 
“clashing,” or “dizzy,” depending somewhat 
upon what combination of complementary 
colors are used. 

How can we bring order out of this noisy, 
competitive color situation? To go back to 
our musical comparisons again, we speak of 
some one playing a violin solo against a musi¬ 
cal background provided by a piano accom¬ 
paniment. If the piano accompaniment coun¬ 
ter-balances the tones of the violin we do not 
hear the violin solo or the piano accompani¬ 
ment, but two competing appeals to our audi¬ 
tory senses. We try to follow one, then the 
other, and hear neither satisfactorily. 

If you will permit the rather unusual desig¬ 
nation of the role of solo part to one color of 
a two-color arrangement (complementary col¬ 
ors, of course) and with the second color play¬ 
ing the “accompaniment,” I believe we can 
quickly arrive at some ideas of pleasant color 
relationships. And we will do it in this way. 
Use a smaller area of one color, at its greatest 
intensity, against a background of the second 
color whose intensity has been “grayed” or 
reduced. These relationships can be arrived 
at with mathematical accuracy. For instance, 
equal areas or equal amounts of two comple¬ 
mentary colors, of the same intensity, balance 
in the sense that when mixed visually they 
will produce a neutral gray. This is another 
law of color you can prove with the spinning 
disc demonstration. 

We know that equal areas of two comple¬ 
mentary colors produce a color balance but 
the area and intensity relationships are dis¬ 
pleasing. But one part of Red at strong inten¬ 
sity and four parts of Blue-Green at about 
one-fourth intensity will also visually balance 
out as a gray and give us a pleasing color 
scheme besides. (Figure 7.) 

It is well to keep this matter of color bal¬ 
ance in mind for you do not always want a 


38 




COLOR COMPOSITION 



Using Complementary Colors in a Balanced 
Color Scheme. Illustrating the basic relation¬ 
ship—“that the intensity of a color should be 
inversely proportional to the area it occu¬ 
pies.” The Red apples (intense color) against 
a weak Blue-Green background of large area. 
The green ivy “keys” in with the background. 
The other elements are white or neutral. 


balanced color composition and herein lies 
your clue to emphasis. To add emphasis to a 
given area you either increase the area or 
increase the intensity of the color occupying 
that area. Either will give you an out-of- 
balance color scheme with emphasis on that 
portion so increased in either area or inten¬ 
sity. 

This theory of relationship of intensity to 
area can be worked out with scientific preci¬ 
sion through employment of the Munsell 
Color System (see reference on page 27) 
but it is sufficient for our practical purposes 
to think in terms of “half the intensity double 
the area; one-fourth the intensity four times 
the area” or the reverse, “double the area one- 
half the intensity,” and so on. But it cannot 
be repeated too frequently that this relation¬ 
ship of intensity to area is one of the very 
foundation stones of good color arrangement. 

The foregoing rather sketchy suggestion of 
a two-color arrangement is only a very simple 
beginning. In a two-color scheme one need 
not have all of each color in a single mass or 
area. The same theory of balance holds true 


if there are two or three Red areas, of equal 
size or not, just so long as the total amount 
of Red in the composition is in proper ratio 
to the total of the area or areas of Blue-Green 
in the composition. 

Once one understands the simple applica¬ 
tion of such color laws as form the basis for 
the Red and Blue-Green arrangement we have 
described, he can then expand and refine his 
creations with more subtle adaptions of these 
sound fundamentals—and with more pleasing 
results. Do not get the idea that I am recom¬ 
mending Red and Blue-Green as a color 
scheme. Personally I dislike such “crude” 
use of color, especially in any such over-sim¬ 
plified combination as I have outlined. Per¬ 
haps you feel an apology is due for this seem¬ 
ing imposition on your native good taste, for 
I doubt if many of you get any pleasurable 
sensation from any Red and Blue-Green com¬ 
bination. The explanation for this apparent 
bad taste on my part is that these two colors 
provide excellent color contrast, and varia¬ 
tions in values and intensities of these colors 
are more easily distinguished than in such 
colors as Yellow-Red or Green-Yellow, or 
Yellow, when used with their complements. 
In suggesting the Red and Blue-Green com¬ 
bination I rather hoped that you might want 
to do a little experimenting in color arrange¬ 
ment and balance, and these two colors will 
serve very effectively in demonstrating the 
principles we have been discussing. 

When once you have fixed firmly in mind 
some of these elementary rules you can easily 
develop no end of pleasing and sufficiently 
accurate two-color combinations. That word 
“accurate” suggests that one needs to hit the 
right color “note” as decisively as in a musical 
composition. Fortunately we workers in color 
do not have to develop color combinations 
that are in perfect balance. In fact a perfectly 
balanced color scheme can be too calm and 
quiet, with no point of color interest. Further, 
there are color combinations aplenty that are 
not in perfect balance but they are harmoni¬ 
ous and pleasing, and in good taste. But you 
must understand how to make a balanced 
color arrangement before you can properly 
control emphasis in any color or area. 

If you would like to get this Red and Blue- 
Green combination out of mind, and are in 
a mood to let your imagination play on new 
possibilities in two-color combinations, turn 


39 










COLOR COMPOSITION 


back to the Color Wheel again and visualize 
some of the immediately obvious complemen¬ 
tary arrangements. And do not forget that you 
can always introduce whites, grays and blacks 
without disturbing color harmonies. You will 
only alter the Value of the composition. 



8 A graph of the five pairs of Complementary 

Colors found in the Color Wheel. One color 
of each pair is a Principal Color, one an 
Intermediate. 

After this rather brief discussion of two- 
color combinations of complementary or con¬ 
trasting colors we should take a glimpse at 
the other kind of two-color combination men¬ 
tioned earlier—that of Related colors. Related 
colors are those immediately or closely adja¬ 
cent in the Color Wheel. Red and Red-Purple, 
or Blue and Blue-Green are related colors, for 
instance, but they are too closely adjacent (for 
a two-color scheme) to give any contrast ex¬ 
cept through extremes in either values or in¬ 
tensities or both. We will secure more color 
contrast, and sacrifice no opportunity for con¬ 
trasts in values and intensities when we select 
two colors like Red-Purple and Yellow-Red 
or Blue-Green and Green-Yellow. In selecting 
two adjacent Intermediate colors you start 
with one note of harmony in that all such 
adjacent Intermediates have one color in com¬ 
mon, which gives them a kinship that is one 
of the elements of harmony. You notice that 
Red-Purple and Yellow-Red have Red in 
common, and Blue-Green and Green-Yellow 
have Green in common. And that fact makes 



9 A graphic illustration of color balance, pro¬ 

duced through use of a greater amount of a 
weaker intensity color to balance a smaller 
amount of a color of stronger intensity. The 
addition of black and white does not destroy 
color balance. 

Related color schemes comparatively “safe,” 
for they can never create any such discord as 
contrasting complementary colors can and 
will if not properly associated. 

Three-Color Compositions 

When we employ three colors we increase 
the possibility of discord but we also infinitely 
increase the opportunity for greater variation 
and more pleasing results. There is something 
more satisfying in the variety three colors 
permit, and variety in color composition is as 
important as variety in forms and tone grada¬ 
tions in black and white, provided it is not 
carried to the point of confusion. 

What three colors shall we use? Go hack 
to the Color Wheel for suggestions of elemen¬ 
tary combinations. 

One kind of three-color selection is to start 
with any one color on the Wheel, such as 
Yellow, and then select for the other two 
colors the ones that are immediately adjacent 
(on either side) to the first color’s comple¬ 
ment, which in this case is Purple-Blue (the 
complement of Yellow). Then the second 
color of our three color selection would he 
Blue, and the third color is Purple, the color 


40 















COLOR COMPOSITION 


on the other side of Yellow’s complement. Or 
you can start with Red-Purple, with which 
you would combine Green-Yellow and Blue- 
Green. Such selections are but variations of 
complementary (two-color) combinations in 
that your second and third colors are closest 
to the first color’s complement. 

A more evenly balanced three-color com¬ 
bination is one in which we select our second 
and third colors one step further from the 
first color’s complement. Starting this time 
with Red, our second color would be the 
Purple-Blue and the third Green-Yellow. 
Other selections would be made following the 
same rule. 

A third type of three-color combination is 
one where all colors are selected from one- 
half of the Color Wheel. Such combinations 
are unbalanced although they can be brought 
into sufficient harmony by adherence to the 
laws of intensity, value and area relationship. 

But, perhaps we do not want a balanced 
color scheme. Say, for instance, you want a 
decidedly warm color composition. Then your 
three colors should be selected from the upper 
half of the Wheel although you could dip one 
step on either side into the lower half through 
use of the Purple-Blue or Green-Yellow. 

By the same rule you can create a definitely 
cool color effect through restricting your se¬ 
lections to the lower half of the Wheel. 

It is advisable to keep this warm and cool 
aspect in mind for it makes possible the ex¬ 
pression of color moods that no amount of 
juggling of values and intensities alone could 
ever accomplish. 

It is not necessary to go to extremes in this 
matter of warm and cool colors, and here 
again our understanding of what creates bal¬ 
ance is the starting point in our swing toward 
a predominance of warm or cool effect. Per¬ 
haps one of the simplest examples of the effect 
of color in creating a “temperature” in a com¬ 
position is the comparison of a brilliant snow 
scene in black and white, with the same scene 
in a blue-toned black and white print, or a 
Kodachrome of a similar snow scene. 

Now that we have generalized on this sub¬ 
ject of color selection it might stimulate our 
thinking to work out a specific problem or 
two, adapting the three principles of color 
composition we have discussed in the fore¬ 
going pages. 


Closely Related 

Distantly Related 

Colors 

Colors 

in Groups of 3 

in Groups of 3 

Red, Yellow-Red 

Red 

and Yellow 

Yellow 

Yellow-Red, Yellow 
and Green-Yellow 

Green 

Yellow 

Green 

Blue 

Yellow, Green-Yellow 
and Green 

Green-Yellow, Green 

and Blue-Green 

Green 

Green, Blue-Green 

Blue 

and Blue 

Purple 

Blue-Green, Blue 
and Purple-Blue 

Blue 

Purple 

Red 

Blue, Purple-Blue 
and Purple 

Purple-Blue, Purple 

Purple 

and Red-Purple 

Red 

Purple, Red-Purple 
and Red 

Yellow 

Red-Purple, Red 
and Yellow-Red 

10 


Four factors enter into the creation of any 
correctly balanced color composition. We 
must (1) select the colors to be used; (2) 
determine their intensities; (3) and find their 
value (how “light” or “dark” they are) before 
we can determine the other factor (4), the 
area each color is to occupy, which is another 
way of saying the “amount” of each color to 
be used. 

In passing we should remember that in 
many color problems the procedure must be 
reversed, in that the area each color is to 
occupy is fixed and predetermined. Or the 
areas and kind or name of colors (as Red, 
Blue, etc.) may be fixed, in which case our 
problem must be solved through manipula¬ 
tion of values and intensities only. 

A most common problem would be one in 
which the area as well as the value and inten¬ 
sity of one or two colors are already estab¬ 
lished for you. Then your only recourse is to 
select the remaining one or two colors of 
proper value and intensity to fill in or to 
become “background” for these fixed colors 
and areas with which you start. 

It will order your thinking for the moment 
if we do a little diagraming of some elemen¬ 
tary problems. 

For simplicity we will start with a two-color 
combination, using the complementary colors 
Blue and Yellow-Red. We have seen that 
equal areas of two complementary colors, of 
equal intensities and of the same value, bal- 


41 



COLOR COMPOSITION 


ance to make a neutral gray. This is expressed 
in Figure 11. 

We have color balance, but we also have a 
balance in areas, which is a monotonous divi- 


INTENSITY 

10 

9 

8 

7 

INTENSITY 

_ 

E 

BLUE 

4/4 

\ 

6 

3 

1 

a 

V-REP 

y4 

3 * / 

4 

12 3 1 

1 

3 

2 

l 

0 

1 

YELLOW 


VALUE 

SCALE 


1 

part 

BLUE 

A/A 


1 

path 

Y-R 

a/a 


II 


A balanced two-color scheme, using equal 
amounts of complementary colors of same 
value and intensity. 


sion of an area. The colors being of equal 
intensity and at the same value tend to “vi¬ 
brate” and clash. All in all this is a most 
unsatisfactory start on color composition. 

To break this monotony let us first get a 
better division of the total area. A proportion 
of one to two will at least he an improvement 
over the equally divided area. We will use the 
Blue in the larger area, the Yellow-Red in the 
smaller one. But we cannot use the same blue 
and still keep any semblance of color balance, 
so we apply the law of “twice the area, half 
the intensity,” etc. (Figure 12.) That means 
we will need a Blue closer to a neutral gray, 
or as we stated before, we will “gray” the 
Blue. To be accurate we use a Blue of one-half 
the intensity of the one originally used. 

To add final proof to our mathematics it 
will be necessary to dip briefly into the Mun- 
sell Color System which has been previous¬ 
ly referred to, and which is, incidentally, the 
finest exposition of the theory of color you 
can hope to find. I do not want to go beyond 
the simplest examination of the theory here, 
but it will be necessary to utilize Munsell 
“measuring sticks” to prove our point. (I want 
to dispel instanter any suspicion that I “in¬ 
vented” the principles underlying the theories 
we are discussing. Would that I had. Mr. 


Munsell spent more than thirty-five years de¬ 
veloping and proving the theory, and it is 
internationally recognized as scientifically ac¬ 
curate. So you are not being asked to accept 
anything embryonic or unproved.) 

You recall the Value and Intensity Scale 
shown on page 32. In the mathematics of the 
theory every color (in all its range of values 
and intensities) can be located in such divi¬ 
sions of value and intensity, and the particular 
“square” of each color is designated by a 
numerical fraction, the numerator indicating 
the Value of the color in any particular 
“square” or subdivision of a color, and the 
denominator indicates the Intensity of that 
same color. 

To express the Blue and Yellow-Red com¬ 
bination in the first graph in these fractions, 
the Blue is Value 4/ and the Intensity is /4, 
hence the fraction 4/4. The Yellow-Red is 
the same fraction 4/4, being at the same value 
and of the same intensity. Obviously these 
are balanced if areas are equal, values and 
intensities the same, and the colors are com¬ 
plementary. 


INTENSITY 


E 


BLUE 

44 


INTENSITY 


1 2 3 


a 


YELLOW-RED Afa 


VALUE 

SCALE 


2 

parts 

BLUE 

Vi 


part 

Y-R 

4/4 


12 


A balanced two-color scheme, using two parts 
of weaker intensity color with one part of a 
stronger intensity color, both of same value. 


Now refer to the second graph in which 
we used a Blue of half the intensity of the 
original one, so our new color is Blue 4/2 
(still value 4 but the new intensity is 2, or 
half the strength of the original Blue). Our 
Yellow-Red remains as 4/4. With these known 
fractions we can determine at once the rela¬ 
tive areas each color must occupy in order to 


i 


42 













































COLOR COMPOSITION 


preserve color balance. To arrive at these rela¬ 
tive areas we multiply the Blue fraction 4/2 
(4X2=8) and then the Yellow-Red fraction 
4/4 (4X4 p== 16). The relationship of areas is 
the relationship of the products of our multi¬ 
plication, but inversely so. In this case the 
area to be occupied by Blue is 16 (the product 
of the Yellow-Red fraction) and the area for 
the Yellow-Red is 8 (the product of the Blue 
fraction). Or in simple terms we find we need 
16 parts of Blue 4/2 to 8 parts of Yellow-Red 
4/4, or still more simply, the ratio is 2 to 1. 
That elementary mathematical formula is the 
proof of our previous statement of “one-half 
the intensity, twice the area.” 

So much for this easily demonstrable fact, 
and it does seem quite simple, doesn’t it? 

We started out with a combination that was 
monotonous in division in areas and further 
monotonous in that both colors were of equal 
intensity, and both being at the same level in 
the value scale there is no contrast of any 
“light” against “dark.” We did improve the 
composition (in the second graph) by using a 
larger area of a grayed color with a smaller 
area of a more intense color (more intense 
by comparison). 

Let us see what we can do about altering 
the Value of our Yellow-Red, to get still great¬ 
er variety as well as a little more “zip” and 
color contrast. Refer to the graph (Fig. 13) 
and notice that we are leaving the Blue at 
Value 4 and Intensity 2. Without resorting to 
theories or graphs we know that a “lighter” 
(higher value) Yellow-Red will give more 
contrast with the Blue than will the darker 
Yellow-Red we have been using. Our problem 
is to first determine what value our new Yel¬ 
low-Red should be if we are not going to 
disturb its intensity. To determine where in 
the Value scale a Yellow-Red of this given 
intensity will fall we draw a diagonal from 
the “fixed” Blue 4/2 through the axis of the 
Value scale which we see to be Value 5. The 
extension of this diagonal intersects Intensity 
/4 at Value 7/. 

Our new equation is Blue 4/2 and Yellow- 
Red 7/4. Our second problem is to determine 
the relative areas these two colors must now 
occupy in order to affect a color balance. 
These areas will be the inverse ratio of the 
products of the two fractions. For instance 
the Blue 4/2 product is 8, and the new prod- 


YELLOW-RED % 



BLUE 4/ z 


VALUE 

SCALE 


28 

parts 

BLUE 

A /z 


p£tts 

Y-R 7 A 


13 


Securing balance with two colors, of unequal 
intensity and value, through change in the 
relationship of the amounts of each used. 


uct of the changed value Yellow-Red is 28 
(7X4=28). 

This means we now need 28 parts of the 
Blue to balance 8 parts of the new value 
Yellow-Red, as against 2 parts of Blue to 1 
part of Yellow-Red when we used the two 
colors at the same value level. 

I have no desire to bore you with involved 
mathematics and abstract illustrations but 
those of you who are interested in getting at 
the roots of the theory and practice of color 
will only have your appetite whetted for 
further and more detailed exploration of this 
tremendously fascinating subject. After all, 
what do you propose to do—merely shoot 
pictures in color, or do you really want to 
become proficient in the art of creating color 
pictures? There is quite a gap between the 
two aspirations. If you were interested in 
sketching in color, you most certainly would 
not feel that you were creating pictures just 
because you were able to get the paint smear¬ 
ed around on the canvas. Neither are you 
necessarily creating a “color picture” just be¬ 
cause you properly expose a Kodachrome 
film. 

If you will pardon a reference to my inter¬ 
est in this Munsell System of Color Notation 
I don’t mind telling you that I made my first 
acquaintance with it more than twenty years 
ago and in all the years since I have never 
ceased to find new and stimulating adventures 


43 






















COLOR COMPOSITION 


in every excursion into the deeper intricacies 
of this theory. 

Should you feel so inclined we might solve 
one elementary problem in handling a three- 
color combination diagramatically as we have 
just done with two colors. 

We will go back to one of the three-color 
combinations we were discussing a moment 
ago, which was Yellow, Blue and Purple. 
Reference to the Color Wheel indicates that 
the Blue and Purple are the two colors im¬ 
mediately adjacent to Yellow’s complement, 
which is Purple-Blue. 

For simplicity we will assume that we have 
settled on the values and intensities of the 
three colors and now want to determine the 
area each must occupy in order to create a 
balanced color scheme. These three colors 
are, we will say, Yellow 6/8, Blue 4/6 and 
Purple 4/6. The product of the Yellow frac¬ 
tion 6/8 is 48. The product of the Blue and 
Purple fractions 4/6 are each 24. Remember 
that Yellow’s complement is Purple-Blue and 
that the Blue and the Purple we are using 
combine to make Purple Blue, and it would 
be a Purple-Blue of the same value and inten¬ 
sity, or 4/6. If we were using the two colors 
Yellow 6/8 and Purple-Blue 4/6, we would 
know that we should use 48 parts of the Pur¬ 
ple-Blue to 24 parts of the Yellow, or 2 to 1. 

Now remember that Purple-Blue is but the 
admixture of Purple and Blue. It follows then 
that 24 parts of Blue mixed with 24 parts of 
Purple would add up to the same thing as 48 
parts of Purple-Blue. That is very obvious 
when you think in quantitative terms such as 
ounces or pounds, for instance. If Yellow and 
its complement Purple-Blue were used in 
combination the mathematics of the equation 
we have just considered would look like this: 
Yellow 6/8 (or 6X8) = 48 24 parts of Yellow 

Purple-Blue 4/6 (or 4X6) =24 48 parts of Purple-Blue 

Since equal parts of Blue 4/6 and Purple 4/6 
make a Purple-Blue 4/6, we use only half as 
much Blue and half as much Purple to bal¬ 
ance the 24 parts of Yellow, like this: 

Yellow 6/8 (6X8) = 48 24 parts of Yellow 

Blue 4/6 (4X6) = 24 24 parts of Blue 

Purple 4/6 (4X6) = 24 24 parts of Purple 

48 parts of Purple-Blue 

I wouldn’t for a moment expect you to go 
through any such mathematical calculations 
before you make every Kodaehrome exposure, 


hut an understanding of these laws will help 
you compose better Kodaehrome pictures; 
will help you intelligently analyze your shots 
that seem to lack color harmony; and above 
all, will help you determine how to introduce 
a new color into existing color compositions, 
or alter ones that are partially predetermined 
for you. Suppose you want to include a bril¬ 
liantly costumed figure in a landscape. Do 
you think you haven’t much control over the 
addition of such colors in such an expanse as 
a landscape, with the object of creating better 
color balance? How about altering the area 
ratio of the figure to the landscape by having 
the camera closeup on the figure, or 20 feet 
away, or 100 feet? You do have plenty of 
control over such situations. 

But to get back to our last equations and 
diagrams, the fact you should retain from 
these examples is that it takes two, three or 
four times as much area of a weak intensity, 
low value (dark) color to balance a comple¬ 
mentary color of stronger intensity and higher 
value (lighter), the ratio depending upon the 
value and intensity of the colors used, of 
course. 

To fix these ratios in mind take a swing 
around the Color Wheel thusly: 


A mount 

High Value 
Strong Intensity 

Will 

Balance 

Amount 

1 part 

Red 

** 

2-4 parts 

it 

Yellow-Red 

** 

«( 

Yellow 


tt a 

it 

Green-Yellow 


a a 


Green 

« 



Blue-Green 

« 



Blue 

** 



Purple-Blue 


a a 


Purple 


a it 


Red-Purple 

“ 

tt tt 


Low Value 
Weak Intensity 
Blue-Green 
Blue 

Purple-Blue 

Purple 

Red-Purple 

Red 

Yellow-Red 

Yellow 

Green-Yellow 

Green 


The tabulation shown above should keep 
you from getting confused with any such idea 
as that all Intermediate colors are weaker 
than all Principal colors, for instance, or that 
one always uses less of what seem to be the 
strongest colors and more of what seem to be 
the weakest ones, in the Color Wheel. If we 
always used each color at its strongest inten¬ 
sity we could set up ratio relationships be¬ 
tween the colors that are most intense with 
those which are less intense by their very na¬ 
ture. But we seldom use a combination of 
colors at their greatest intensities. At least 
we should not do so, as we have previously 
demonstrated. The tabulation is presented 
only to emphasize that if you use a high value, 
strong intensity Red with a low value, weak 


44 












COLOR COMPOSITION 


R 



15 

A three-color “Distantly 
Related” color scheme, 
employing three colors 
one step removed from 
each other. Such schemes 
will alivays he three Prin¬ 
cipal Colors, or three In¬ 
termediates. 


14 

A three-color “Closely Re¬ 
lated” color scheme, em¬ 
ploying three colors that 
are immediately adjacent 
on the Color Wheel. Such 
selection can not be other 
than harmonious. 


R 



0G 


intensity Blue-Green, for one example, it will 
take three or four parts of that kind of Blue- 
Green to balance one part of the kind of Red 
specified. But by the same rule you could 
reverse the order and have a high value, 
strong intensity Blue-Green that might re¬ 
quire two or three parts of low value, weak 
intensity Red for a balance. 

It will pay you to study the Value and In¬ 
tensity Scale shown on page 32, to fix in your 
memory that certain colors, at their greatest 
intensity, are “stronger” colors than others at 
their greatest intensity. The maximum inten¬ 
sity of certain colors is being extended by 
science as new pigments are being developed, 
but the approximate relationship shown in 
the Scale above mentioned remains generally 
the same. It should be repeated that none of 
these Intensity indications should be accepted 
as definite and final steps in maximum inten¬ 
sity. The diagrams are shown only to indicate 
relationships and to explain what we mean by 
more or less intensity of a color at each step 
in the Value scale. 

Creating Color Compositions 

It is not assumed that many of us can or 
will work out, in infinite detail and exact color 


balance, the average color composition we 
photograph in Kodachrome. In fact no such 
laborious procedure is necessary. 

But our compositions will be much im¬ 
proved in the matter of color harmony and 
balance if we develop and practice the few 
fundamental rules of good color which we 
have been discussing. Once we have estab¬ 
lished, in our minds, the foundation for color 
harmony and balance we have a “yard-stick” 
by which to analyze and correct errors in our 
actual color picture problems. 

How should one go about creating a color 
composition? We have already touched on 
procedures for certain types of combinations, 
but it will not be amiss to review some of the 
aspects already touched upon, and from there 
go on to four and five-color combinations. I 17 
creating any color arrangement we must start 
with something, so pick any color on the Color 
Wheel. Suppose we want a three-color com¬ 
position. The safest and most elementary 
scheme is a Related one, as discussed in terms 
of a two-color arrangement on a preceding 
page. Suppose your starting color is Yellow. 
A Cosely Related scheme is one made up of 
colors immediately adjacent on the Color 
Wheel. Then our other two colors are Yellow- 
Red and Green-Yellow. (See Figure 14.) This 


45 






COLOR COMPOSITION 



16 

A four-color arrangement, 
using a pair of Comple¬ 
mentary Colors, with two 
others immediately adja¬ 
cent to one of the pair. 
It is a “Related” color 
scheme plus the color con¬ 
trast of a color Comple¬ 
mentary to one of the Re¬ 
lated colors. 



Smallest Area, Strongest Intensity 
Laryet Area, Weaket Intensity 
Lmqest Area, Weakest Intensity 



17 


A four-color association 
that is more difficult to 
harmonize. A proper as¬ 
sociation of values, inten- 
O sides and areas can make 
X such a scheme very effec¬ 
tive. The first problem is 
to determine which is to 
be used for color empha¬ 
sis, then subordinate the 
other three colors to the 
central theme. 


method of selection could be followed around 
the Wheel. 

Or we could have another type of related 
scheme which we designate as Distantly Re¬ 
lated because we skip one step on either side 
of our starting color, which in the diagram is 
Blue-Green. We have a relationship in this 
selection, in pairs, as the Blue-Purple and the 
Blue-Green have Blue in common, and the 
Blue-Green and Green-Yellow have Green in 
common. (Figure 15.) And this method of 
selection can be followed around the Wheel, 
giving one quite a variety of combinations. 

In Related color schemes there is little con¬ 
trast in kind of color but contrast aplenty can 
be secured through using one color of weak 
intensity and low value, another of strong 
intensity and high value, and so on. 

Four-Color Compositions 

We have discussed at some length one-, two- 
and three-color compositions, and their selec¬ 
tion is a somewhat easier procedure than the 
development of four- and five-color arrange¬ 
ments. The diagrams on these two pages are 
not to be construed as the only basis for such 
color selection, hut rather to suggest some 
order and logic in arriving at the development 
of any multi-colored color composition. 


In the first diagram we show our first selec¬ 
tion as Yellow-Red. (Figure 16.) To give bal¬ 
ance as well as some color contrast we need 
something on the opposite side of the Wheel, 
and the simplest procedure is to select the 
complement, which is Blue. We can now select 
two other colors on the warm side of the 
Wheel, between Red-Purple and Green-Yel¬ 
low, or on the cool side, as suggested by the 
diagram. The next problem is to use the four 
colors in intensities, values and areas that will 
not only give us color and value contrast, but 
variety in areas. The rectangular diagram is 
one suggestion as to how we might accomplish 
this. 

The other four-color diagram suggests we 
start with Yellow, then select its complement 
Blue-Purple. (Figure 17.) For the other two 
colors we might select another pair of com¬ 
plements, immediately adjacent to the first 
pair or a pair one step removed as the dia¬ 
gram suggests. 

It is difficult to express or suggest a color 
sensation with diagrams in black and white, 
hut if you will study the two rectangular lay¬ 
outs and the accompanying text you may 
“see” the possibilities in the suggestions. Bet¬ 
ter yet, you can prove that any such selection 
of colors, of proper intensities, values and 


46 











COLOR COMPOSITION 



Smallest Am, Strongest Intensity 
Latyet Am, Weaker Intensity 
Latyest Am, Weakest Intensity 


18 

A five-color selection 
based upon the use of two 
pairs of Complementary 
colors against a back¬ 
ground of a color falling 
between the pairs. One set 
of Complements would be 
used in small area, in 
strong intensity, the other 
pair being of weaker in¬ 
tensity. 

areas will balance by laying out areas on a 
circular white card, painting them in line with 
the suggestions and then spin the card disc as 
we did in some of the other tests. 

Five-Color Compositions 

The two diagrams of five-color selection are 
merely suggestions, remember, and are not the 
only procedure one might follow, but turn 
these around on the Color Wheel, one step at 
a time, and then imagine all the variations of 
value and intensity one might use in each 
combination of five colors and there would 
seem to be little reason to feel any serious 
limitation in opportunity for almost limitless 
color compositions. 

In the top diagram (Figure 19) we have 
started with a selection of the complements 
Purple and Green-Yellow. We have chosen to 
select as third and fourth colors the ones ad¬ 
jacent to Green-Yellow so we can achieve bet¬ 
ter color harmony by having a group of Close¬ 
ly Related colors as part of the composition. 
The fifth color could be Red or Blue, if we 
wanted something that gave a little more color 
contrast. The rectangular diagram suggests 
how such colors might be handled as to area 
relationship and proximity to each other. 


19 

A five-color selection that 
associates two Related col¬ 
ors with one of a pair of 
Complements, with an in- 
between color being used 
in weak intensity as a 
background for the other 
four colors. Degree of har¬ 
mony would depend up¬ 
on proper intensities and 
areas used. 

The second diagram (Figure 18) suggests 
an amplification of a two-color complemen¬ 
tary color scheme, in that we use two pairs of 
complements immediately adjacent, with a 
fifth color selected half way between, on 
either side of the Wheel (in this case Green) 
to serve as a background for our other four 
colors. 

Keep in mind constantly that there are two 
basic relationships of color into which all 
color combinations can be classified, whether 
you use two, three, four or more colors. First, 
any two colors are related, closely or distantly, 
or second, they are complementary or near 
complements. Complementary colors, of 
strong intensity and of the same value or 
nearly the same value provide the greatest 
color contrast, and are the most difficult to 
harmonize. Related colors give little color 
contrast, at same intensity and value, and are 
naturally harmonious. Any two or more colors 
of weak intensity are harmonious in combina¬ 
tion but they need value contrast to give such 
a composition strength. Fortunately any 
amount of alteration up or down the value 
scale on one or more of the colors will not 
seriously affect harmony or balance, but it 
will raise or lower the whole key of the com¬ 
position. Prove this on the spinning disc. 




47 












COLOR COMPOSITION 


Developing a Color Sense 

It has been difficult to determine how far 
to go in this discussion of color. I have at¬ 
tempted to stop short of being too “arty,” hut 
have endeavored to carry this subject of color 
to a point where the suggestions advanced can 
serve as a basis for the development of a better 
eye for color, and some idea as to how one 
may make practical application of these ele¬ 
mentary rules. 

In practice this knowledge will help 
through serving as a guide for color arrange¬ 
ment, or the correction of badly out-of-balance 
ones. You can often alter the entire color 
effect of a composition through the introduc¬ 
tion of a color, or a substitution for one that 
creates color discord, or by merely rearrang¬ 
ing the elements already in the composition. 

To use a very simple example—suppose you 
are making a Kodachrome shot of a group of 
three people, two of whom are dressed in 
weak intensity colors but the third individual 
is wearing a costume of brilliant, intense col¬ 
or. If you place the brilliantly costumed 
figure in the foreground, and if at the same 
time this figure partially obscures the other 
two weak intensity costumes you only aggra¬ 
vate an already badly out-of-balance color 
situation. On the other hand, if you place the 
brilliant costume behind and between the 
figures in weaker colors, so that all of the 
area of the weaker costumes are exposed, and 
they in turn block out half of the brilliant 
costume, you will be working toward better 
color balance. You will have increased the 
area of the weaker colors and decreased the 
area of the brilliant color, which is the law of 
ratio of intensity «to area. This example may 
seem ridiculously simple, but such simple re¬ 
arrangement often makes the difference be¬ 
tween a harsh, unbalanced color composition 
and a harmonious one. 

Another common possibility for quick, easy 
improvement in color harmony is to add a 


needed color to an otherwise uninteresting 
composition through the introduction of a 
colored fabric for background on indoor shots, 
or the use of a colorfully upholstered chair, or 
on outdoor shots, introduce a colorful jacket 
or other costume item, or you might put a 
colorful blanket on the ground upon which 
one or more of your subjects sit. 

The application of such devices is too ob¬ 
vious to call for much elaboration. 

Entirely aside from the factors of harmony 
and balance there is one overall rule for color 
that should be blazoned across every color 
worker’s consciousness. That rule is “Keep 
your colors in mass as much as possible, and 
avoid too many small spots of scattered color.” 
A solid color costume is better than a two- 
piece one if the two pieces are of different 
color. A two-piece one, if each piece is a solid 
color, is better than a two-piece one of a 
broken up color pattern. And so on down the 
line of diminishing area size. This applies 
equally whether your subject is a figure, a 
room interior, a landscape or whatnot. This 
idea of large masses of color in landscape is 
well illustrated in the Color Plates of Bryce 
Canyon and Grand Canyon, pages 18 and 143, 
respectively. Compare these with the Color 
Plate of the Flower Garden, with its more 
scattered “spots” of color. 

So much for color composition. It is a big 
subject and one could not explore all its rami¬ 
fications in months of study, much less do 
justice to it in a few pages in a book. If this 
discussion has stimulated any inclination for 
further investigation and experimentation it 
will have served its purpose well indeed. The 
extent of your further explorations depend 
upon whether you are merely satisfied to 
photograph things in color, or whether you 
seriously want to create and record beautiful 
color pictures. If there is any art in your soul 
there is a whole wide world of opportunity 
for the expression of that urge through the 
medium of Kodachrome. 


Complete information regarding; the Mansell Color System may be obtained from the Munsell Color Company, Inc., 10 East 
Franklin Street, Baltimore, Md., or Favor, Ruhl & Company, 425 South Wabash Ave., Chicago. 


48 



CHAPTER 4 


VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 


P ERHAPS it may seem far afield 
to refer to color as having 
black and white value charac¬ 
teristics. But it is necessary to 
understand that the color of an 
object has less effect on Kodachrome expos¬ 
ures than the Value of the color. In other 
words do not seize upon the misconception 
that Red always calls for the same exposure 
in bright sunlight, for instance, or that there 
is a “set” exposure for Yellow, another for 
Blue, and so on. It all depends upon the 
Value of the Red, Yellow, Blue, etc. In fact 
many things affect this phase of color. 

To establish a premise for examination of 
this black and white value range (brightness 
range, or whatever you prefer to call it) we 
will subdivide the subject into three phases: 

1. Different colors of the same material 
and texture do not reflect the same per¬ 
centage of the incident light. 

2. Different textures of the same color do 
not reflect equal percentages of the inci¬ 
dent light. 

3. The value or brightness range of nor¬ 
mally intense colors is greatest under 
strong light (as full sunlight) and the 
scale or range is shortened as the volume 
of incident light is decreased. 

It will be less confusing if we get at these 
aspects of color one at a time even though we 
usually encounter a combination of all three 
in actual practice. 

Relative Reflective Power of Colors 
of Same Material 

We refer to certain colors as “light” colors 
and to others as “dark” ones. If we under¬ 
stand what we mean by such designation we 
are not far from a correct definition, unscien¬ 
tific though it may be. When we speak of a 


color as being “light” or “dark” in comparison 
with other colors in a group we assume, of 
course, that they are all, at the moment at 
least, fully exposed to the same light source. 
We do not take into account shadow areas or 
partially lighted colors. 

Please do not ask me why, but it is true 
that certain colors, by their very nature reflect 
more of their own color than do other colors, 
as mentioned in the preceding chapter. In 
such pigments as the printing inks used in 
process color work we find such surprising 
variations in reflection as these: 

—that blue-green reflects only 45% to 50% 
of its own color, while at the same time 
reflecting some red, which being its com- 
lement, tends to “dull” the brilliance of 
the blue-green, 

—that the magenta red reflects only 70% to 
75% of its own color, which is “dulled” 
by reflecting about 20% of green, which 
it should absorb, and 

—that yellow is the most efficient in that it 
reflects 80% to 85% of its own color, and 
some yellow pigments reflect as high as 
97%. 

Rather simple arithmetic indicates why 
some colors are “light” and others “dark,” 
entirely aside from the factor of the amount 
of white or black they contain at certain 
values, or more properly, how they appear 
when exposed to weak or strong white light. 

You may be interested in comparisons of 
this relative reflective power borne out by a 
simple test made with colored cardboard; 
each color near its maximum intensity. Using 
colors of the same material and surface tex¬ 
ture confines the comparison strictly to color. 
In another table we will observe the relative 
reflective power of different materials and 
textures of the same color. 

The table on the next page shows (1) meter 


49 


VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 




Red—400 


Yellow—1300 


Green—650 


Blue—500 


Purple—500 


METER READINGS 
from the 

FIVE PRINCIPAL COLORS 


20 

Relative Reflective Power of Colors 

This reproduction is from a panchromatic 
negative made from a Kodachrome transpar¬ 
ency shot of these color swatches in full sun¬ 
light, exposed for the Red. It is interesting to 
note that overexposure of all other colors 
resulted in pulling together the monochro¬ 
matic value of all colors. See text for amount 
of overexposure. 


INDICATED EXPOSURE 



Meter 

Relative % 

Movie Film 

35 mm. Film 

Cut Film 


Reading 

Reflection 

1/30 sec. 

1/25 sec. 

1/25 sec. 

Neutral Gray. 

. 1000 

100% 

@ f/18 

@ f/20 

@ f/22 

Red .. 

. 400 

40% 

@f/ll 

@ f/12.7 

@ f/14 

Yellow . 

.. 1300 

130% 

@ f/20 

@ f/22 

@ f/25 

Green . 

. 650 

65% 

@ f/14 

@ f/16 

@ f/18 

Blue . 

. 500 

50% 

@ i/12.1 

@ f/14 

@ f/16 

Purple .. 

.. 500 

50% 

@ i/12.1 

@ f/14 

@1/16 


readings on each color, under identical light 
conditions; (2) the relative amount of light 
reflected, as compared to readings taken on a 
Gray Card which is taken to be 100% (for 
comparison only, because the gray card did 
not reflect 100% of the incident light, of 
course) ; and (3) what the correct exposure 
would be for Kodachrome Movie Film at a 
shutter speed of 1/30 of a second, and what 
it would be on both 35 mm. and Cut film 
Kodachrome, working at a shutter speed of 
1/25 of a second. Readings and exposures 
were made in bright, noon-day sunshine. (Ex¬ 
posure calculations are for Daylight type film 
and at the following film ratings: Movie and 
35 mm., Weston 8, GE 12; Cut film, Weston 
10, GE 16.) 


Cut Kodachrome was used for the exposure. 
The black and white reproduction (Figure 
20) is from the exposure based on the meter 
reading for the Red. As you may suspect, in 
the Kodachrome transparency the Yellow is 
slightly “burned out,” as it was overexposed 
almost two full stops; one and two-thirds 
stops, to be exact. Overexposure results in 
loss of color saturation, as you know. The 
Green, Blue and Purple were not affected 
unfavorably to any appreciable extent al¬ 
though there is slight evidence of overex¬ 
posure, more noticeable in the Green, of 
course. But these latter three colors are well 
within the limits of “satisfactory results.” By 
referring to the table you will notice that the 
Green was overexposed % of a stop (exposure 


50 









VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 


for Red was f/14 and it should have been 
f/18 for the Green) ; the Blue and Purple 
were overexposed ]/ 3 stop. While we are “split¬ 
ting hairs” do not let anyone tell you that y 3 
of a stop variation does not affect color results. 
That fact becomes all the more important in 
helping you decide on “compromise” expos¬ 
ures, and practically every Kodachrome shot 
requires some exposure compromise. You 
should learn how to arrive at such comprom¬ 
ises in order to secure the best average results, 
as well as to know how to faithfully record a 
specific part of your composition, when you 
so desire. 

A word of caution about the exposure indi¬ 
cations given in the foregoing table. They 
must not be considered as suggested exposures 
for normal subjects or for any situation except 
an exact duplicate of this test, light conditions 
and all. The meter readings shown are exces¬ 
sively high, as you may have noticed. They 
are high because these color swatches were 
mounted flat and turned directly toward the 
sun, and the material’s reflective power is 
much higher than that of “normal” subjects. 
In your usual color composition only a small 
percentage of the surfaces are in a flat plane 
and at right angles to the light source. The 
balance are turned “every which way” and in 
consequence reflect back to the camera lens 
less of the total light emanating from your 
light source. 

This ratio of the relative reflective power of 
these same colors and same materials could 
and would be altered by changes in volume 
of incident light; by changing the color quali¬ 
ty of the light such as under a north sky in 
open shade; or a colored artificial light 
source. 

So much for a demonstration of the fact 
that there is a difference in the relative reflec¬ 
tive power of colors, other conditions being 
equal. Our second subdivision of this reflec¬ 
tive variation is: 



O 1 One check of the relative reflective power of 

" ■ two materials and surfaces, of the same color, 

in comparison with a neutral gray and a Yel¬ 
low Card of extremely high reflective power. 

Relative Reflective Power of Dif¬ 
ferent Textures of the Same Color 

Before we assume that color alone deter¬ 
mines the percentage of incident light coming 
back to our lens, we must introduce another 
element—that of surface texture. 

In making this “texture” test shown in the 
tabulation which follows, two different sur¬ 
faces were used although these are by no 
means those that might represent the extremes 
in absorption and reflection. The hard sur¬ 
faced Red cardboard (from the previous test) 
and a piece of Red velvet were the materials 
used. The color or kind of Red in both mate¬ 
rials were as nearly the same intensity and 
value as could be found. 

To have a direct comparison with the pre¬ 
ceding test and tabulation, meter readings 
(Continued on page 55) 


Meter 

Reading 


Neutral Gray. 1000 

Red Cardboard . 400 

Red Velvet. 160 


Relative % 
Reflection 
100 % 
40% 
16% 


INDICATED EXPOSURE 


Movie Film 35 mm. Film Cut Film 
1/30 sec. 1/25 sec. 1/25 sec. 

@ f/18 @ f/20 @ i/22 

@ i/ll @ f/12.7 @ f/14 

@ f/7 @ f/8 @ i/9 


51 










THE THREE DANCING GIRLS 


Color shots of figures outdoors, in full sunlight, usually present the very serious problem 
of unwanted, harsh shadows on face and figure. The usual devices for overcoming such hazards 
are reflectors or synchronized flash, to fill in shadow areas. 

If you are so fortunate as to stage a color shot under a light fog or extremely light overcast 
sky, you will find such light conditions as desirable as any that can be created with supplementary 
light. This shot of the three girls was made in the middle of the day, under a high fog light. 
The quality of such light closely approaches that created by a diffusing screen. Sharp contrasts 
are eliminated (except for dead shadows), and the intensity of the light is but slightly dimin¬ 
ished in comparison with full sunlight. 

This study is an interesting demonstration of Kodachrome’s ability to record, in full inten¬ 
sity, the three very interesting reds in the costumes, each so distinctly different from the others, 
as well as being several shades removed from the Magenta dye used in Kodachrome. It is a rather 
striking example of the subtle changes in colors that can be produced through the addition of 
even small amounts of the other two dye colors. Three colors create all the kaleidoscopic array 
of color of which Kodachrome is capable of recording. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 10 inch Goerz 
Dagor. The reproduction is four color process, letterpress; plates made direct from the trans¬ 
parency. 











































I 





















* 





























































I 

















* 















' 






# 






* 


* 







































VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 


Meter Relative % Exposure 

Reading Reflection 1/25 sec. 


Neutral Gray... 1000 100% @ f/20 

Yellow Cardboard . 1300 130% @ f/22 

Red Velvet .... 160 16% @ f/8 


were made in the same light, under the same 
conditions, and the same neutral gray card 
was used as the 100% basic unit. (See Figure 
21 .) 

The percentage of reflection, due to surface 
texture variation and not to color difference, 
is shown by the meter readings listed in the 
table on page 51. 

In this test we find that the Red Velvet 
called for 1*4 stops more exposure than did 
the cardboard surface of the same color. To 
further impress this fact of texture and color 
influence in reflective power let us take a 
rather extreme case and check the Yellow 
cardboard with the Red Velvet. 

Using the tabulations on the Yellow from 
the preceding table we find a comparison like 
the above for an exposure on 35 mm. film. 

This indicates an exposure range between 
the Yellow cardboard and the Red Velvet of 
3 full stops, a wider range than can be cap¬ 
tured on Kodachrome film, with its limited 
latitude. If one exposed correctly for the Yel¬ 
low the Red velvet would be greatly under¬ 
exposed and would appear so dark that it 
would reflect little if any color. If the expos¬ 
ure were made for the Red velvet the Yellow 
cardboard would be so badly overexposed that 
its color would be all but “burned out” entire¬ 
ly. It would likely appear a warm white. 

A compromise exposure, half way between 
the extremes would record some semblance of 
both the Yellow and the Red, but far from 
faithfully, as at this exposure the Yellow 
would be overexposed 1% stops and the Red 
underexposed an equal amount. 

We could carry this comparison to greater 
extremes through use of some such highly 
reflective surface as a Yellow porcelain enam¬ 
el table top along with the Red velvet. 

These two tests—(1) relative reflection of 
different colors of the same material and tex¬ 
ture and (2) relative reflection of the same 
colors of different textures—have indicated 
that there is a wide range of variation between 
the volume of our light source and the per¬ 
centage of that light which is reflected back 


from objects and surfaces upon which that 
light falls. 

This little demonstration should be the an¬ 
swer to those proponents of meter readings 
from a neutral gray card, to determine the 
volume of the incident light. Such procedure 
is an oversimplification of the problem of 
determining the amount of light reflected 
back to the camera lens. After all, it is the 
light reflected from our composition that ex¬ 
poses the film, and the amount of this reflect¬ 
ed light does not have a constant or percentage 
relationship to the amount of light present. 

We must not become confused by the illus¬ 
trations just cited. We are not attempting to 
prove that all Yellows, regardless of material 
or texture, reflect a higher percentage of the 
incident light than do all Reds, regardless of 
their material or texture. On the contrary, we 
could easily find a highly reflective material 
in Red color that would reflect more of the 
incident light than a highly light absorbent 
material in Yellow color, for instance. 

Neither do we mean that all “hard” surfaces 
of any color reflect more light than do “soft” 
surfaces, regardless of color. In the majority 
of cases hard surfaces would reflect more than 
soft ones, but there are exceptions to all rules. 
One exception could be a very dark value 
Purple-Blue cardboard (hard surface) and a 
very high value Yellow loosely woven wool 
fabric (soft surface). 

Then why all this talk about “light” colors, 
“dark” colors, and all the combinations of 
color and surface texture if there are no rigid 
rules? There is a rigid rule—the rule of learn¬ 
ing to “see”—to see things as they are, and to 
untangle them from fixed impressions and 
unsupported assumptions. Too many of us 
acquire too many unprovable “facts” that be¬ 
come fixed guides, without question, in our 
practice of color photography. We need to 
critically examine many of those things we 
know “for sure” that may not be true. 

This rather lengthy discussion is an attempt 
to help you analyze your color subjects—to 


55 






VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 



23 

This is the same room, late in the day, when 
the volume of incident light is much dimin¬ 
ished. Although this is a rather trite example, 
it does illustrate the point that the weaker 
the incident light the closer together are the 
values of all objects under such light, regard¬ 
less of their value relationship in full, direct 
light. 


22 

This picture was taken in the middle of the 
day, with no light except that from outdoors 
through the windows. Objects in the room 
fall into their natural value scale under such 
even illumination, and hold their true rela¬ 
tionship better than if they were in full, 
direct sunlight. 


help you translate colors and textures into 
terms of “light” and “dark”—to help you 
judge the black and white value range of your 
subjects. And what is more important, to help 
you determine what is the “average” value of 
the subject, for that must become the basis for 
most of your exposures. Also, as you learn to 
analyze your compositions, in terms of values 
(or brightness, if you prefer), you will detect 
any portions that are beyond the range of the 
film, because they are too light or too dark. 

Do not forget that your Kodachrome film 
is three layers of superimposed “black and 
white” emulsion, prepared in such way that 
each layer records a definite portion of the 
spectrum. It is only through processing ma¬ 
nipulation that it finally becomes a color 
transparency. The film has to “see” the sub¬ 
ject in terms of “black and white” values, and 
you will get better results when you com¬ 


mence to see your subjects through the same 

“eyes.” 

Now just a word about the third phase men¬ 
tioned previously; the fact that the value scale 
or brightness range of a color composition is 
shortened as the volume of incident light is 
decreased. By the same token the range is 
lengthened, or the value contrast is increased 
by any addition to the volume of incident 
light. To carry this procedure still further, 
the brightness range is lengthened by the 
addition of “surplus” light, as we will see in 
just a moment. 

First, we need no test beyond commonplace 
experience to remind us that all colors are 
pulled together in value in a darkened room. 
Recall some colorfully furnished room—col¬ 
orful, that is, when it is flooded with light. 
In the strong light one sees great contrast in 
value or brightness between light colored 


56 





VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 


walls, brilliantly colored drapes and dark col¬ 
ored upholstery or floor coverings. (Figure 
22.) Then walk into the room at twilight and 
the light walls will appear to be dark gray, 
the brilliant colors of the drapes may retain 
some semblance of color but will appear very 
dark in value. (Figure 23.) If there is suffi¬ 
cient light in the darkened room the dark 
furniture and floor covering will not appear 
as much darker than normal (in full light) 
as will the normally light, high value colors, 
such as the light walls. 

Th is absence of light is another proof of the 
law of values discussed in an earlier chapter. 
All objects in the room retain all their proper¬ 
ties of color but they must be subjected to 
sufficient light to make the color apparent. 
Again it will not be amiss to repeat that color 
is an object’s ability to absorb certain portions 
of the visible spectrum and to reflect others 
from the white light falling on the subject. 

While we are on this phase of the subject 
we should keep in mind that we can make a 
“dark” color of a “light” one by simply de¬ 
creasing the volume of the light in which it 
is viewed. That is what takes place in the 
darkened room, all colors have become “dark” 
in value. It is not so easily understood that 
“dark” colors can be made “light” through 
increase in the volume of incident light. With 
“surplus” light we can carry such colors to a 
lighter or higher value than we usually con¬ 
sider their normal value or brightness. 

Just a word or two about what we mean by 
the addition of “surplus” light. I would term 
“surplus” light as that volume beyond the 
point where a color seems to be brightest and 
at the same time retains all its “local” color. 
Another term might be “point of saturation.” 
This is most easily proved with such colors as 
a lemon yellow. For purposes of illustration 
we will use an actual lemon because its color 
is intense and its surface is highly reflective. 
You have probably noticed that a lemon does 
not appear as intense in color in brilliant sun¬ 
shine as it does under a slightly diffused sun¬ 
light—fog light or under the roof of a green¬ 
house. Some place in the scale of light volume 
the lemon absorbs all or most all colors in the 
visible spectrum except the yellow portions, 
or bands, we call the lemon’s “local” color. 
In the brilliant sunshine the yellow loses some 
of its intensity of color. It is “burned out” be¬ 


cause of “surplus” light. It merely means that 
the lemon is being subjected to more light 
than it can handle. Since the “saturation” 
point has been passed, the lemon then reflects 
all it can of yellow but it also reflects a per¬ 
centage of the incident white light as white 
light, a dilution of the pure yellow color takes 
place. The result is much the same as if one 
added some white paint to a yellow paint 
similar to the lemon’s yellow. 

“Surplus” light will not burn out normally 
dark colors so easily, as the addition of “sur¬ 
plus” light will only make a dark blue appear 
as a lighter blue, for example. The same will 
hold true of all dark colors. 

What have we learned from this rather de¬ 
tailed consideration of the black and white 
value characteristics of color? I hope you will 
agree that the following facts seem obvious. 

1. That, even in Kodachrome, we do not 
photograph “color” but rather the 
amount of colored light reflected back 
from a color subject. The object’s color 
is dependent upon the volume of inci¬ 
dent light, but the film’s emulsion is 
affected only by that portion of colored 
light which the object has the ability to 
reflect. The fact that the film records 
“color” is due to the sensitivity of one or 
more layers of the Kodachrome film to 
that color. 

2. That the value or brightness range of 
any color composition is what deter¬ 
mines exposure, and not what colors are 
used. 

3. And last but by no means least, that 
since Kodachrome film has less latitude 
than does single layer emulsions used 
for black and white work, the most satis¬ 
factory rendition of all colors in a com¬ 
position is secured when the scale of 
values or brightness is comparatively 
short—no extremes of light and dark 
values in the same composition. An ideal 
color composition, from the standpoint 
of exposure only, is one that is all in low 
key, or all medium key, or all high key. 
Exposure compensation is then made 
for the “key” of the composition. And 
when we say Value or Brightness we are 
only using a term to express the amount 
of reflected light. Remember the com- 


57 


VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 



24 

A “ Light-Colored ” Su6- 
ject. TTiis scene is light 
or “high-keyeddue to 
two factors. First, the 
colors of the surfaces 
are yellows, tans, pinks, 
etc.; second, reflected 
light opens up most of 
the shadow areas which 
shortens the tone scale 
of the entire composi¬ 
tion. 


parison of the Yellow cardboard with 
the Red velvet, and that texture, or the 
power of reflection or absorption has as 
much to do with the result as does the 
color itself. Oftentimes more. 

I can imagine some of you saying, “Enough 
of this abstract stuff. Why not get out and take 
some pictures, to learn whether or not there 
is any sense to these ideas.” 

Bryce Canyon 

Nothing could please me more. The first 
adventure will be with a subject that has 
caused no end of color photographers no end 
of difficulties—Bryce Canyon National Park. 
(Figure 24.) 

Suppress for a moment your awe and won¬ 
derment at the spectacular panorama before 
you, and analyze the subject in terms of what 
we have been discussing. 

As colors go, it is apparent that the overall 
color of the Canyon is “light,” very light. 
Yellows, Pinks, light pastels that reflect back 
an unusual percentage of the incident light. 
We know that such colors call for at least one 
(1) stop less exposure than would green grass, 


green trees, dark earth colors and so on. The 
very nature of the color is “light,” mental 
comparisons tell you instantly. Refer to the 
Color Plate of Bryce Canyon, page 18. 

Now another factor influences our analysis 
—that of surface texture. The surfaces are 
vertical and parallel, with a higher than 
usual percentage of planes that catch and 
reflect light back to your lens. For this factor 
we would stop down y 2 to 1 stop, depending 
upon the angle of light, what we are including 
in our composition, etc. The result of the com¬ 
bination of “light” color and reasonably high 
reflective surface suggests an exposure of 1*4 
to 2 full stops less exposure than we would 
give an “average” subject. The foregoing as¬ 
sumes we are photographing in more or less 
flat light and are not concerned about making 
compensations for shadow areas. This Bryce 
subject is an extremely interesting example of 
a “high-keyed” landscape, and the approach 
we have just made to the subject concerns 
only an exposure that will record faithfully 
the subject’s local color. It is not, however, 
the best procedure for getting an effective 
color picture of Bryce Canyon, as we will see 
in later discussions. 


58 





VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 


25 

A Slightly “Darker Than 
Average” Subject. Dark 
water, dark trees, dark 
rock cliff and no sur¬ 
faces reflecting light on¬ 
to other surfaces. 

All surfaces except the 
water being of an “ab¬ 
sorbent” rather than “re¬ 
flective” texture com¬ 
bine to make this an 
“average” subject on the 
“dark” side, and suffi¬ 
ciently so to justify a lit¬ 
tle exposure compensa¬ 
tion. 



Agate Betich 

Now for a subject with quite different char¬ 
acteristics. (Figure 25.) This scene is along 
the Straits of Juan de Fuca in the State of 
Washington. Analyzing this subject first for 
color, we have a dark blue sky because we 
are shooting North; the water is an especially 
dark blue; the trees are dark, warm green; 
the cliff is dark earth color; and the gray 
pebble beach is a darker tone than the average 
sand beach. From a color standpoint we have 
no light, “high-keyed” colors except in the 
figures and they are too small to demand any 
exposure compromise. 

In comparison with Bryce, we recognize 
that this composition is made up, primarily, 
of “dark” colors. The surface textures are 
average, or on the “absorption” side rather 
than more “reflective” than normal. We must 
let the sky take care of itself. We are shooting 
the water at such a low angle that it does not 
reflect back as much light as water does when 
viewed from a higher angle. The cliff and 
trees reflect back less than an average per¬ 
centage of the incident light. (The Color Plate 
“Mt. Baker,” page 125, is another example of 


large areas of dark and “light absorbent” 
colors and textures.) 

Here, then, is a subject of slightly “darker” 
than average colors, with also a deficiency in 
the reflective quality of surface textures. 
While these “deficiencies” from normal are 
apparent it is also apparent that they are not 
as extreme in the opposite direction as those 
found in the Bryce illustration, and our com¬ 
pensations for “below normal” will not need 
to be so great as for the unusual “above nor¬ 
mal” conditions at Bryce. 

However, our beach scene is a darker than 
average subject. The factor of “dark” colors 
calls for about ]/$ wider stop, and the below 
normal reflective quality of the surfaces sug¬ 
gests about another *4 stop compensation. 

To be specific let us see what our exposures 
would be on these two subjects in comparison 
with what we might use on a normal subject. 

Movie 35 mm. Cut Film 
1/30 sec. 1/25 sec. 1/25 see. 
Normal Subject .f/8 @ f/10 @ f/11 

Bryce Canyon @ f/14 @ f/18 @ f/20 

Beach Scene.@f/6.3 @ f/8 @ f/9 

In our analysis of these two subjects we 
have used as a basis the two factors discussed 


59 






VALUE CHARACTERISTICS 


in this chapter—that of the black and white 
value range of colors and the character of 
surface textures. These two illustrations are 
given only to help fix in your mind that there 
is practical application of these rules that will 
prove themselves more fundamental as your 
color experience expands. 


In a following chapter we will discuss ex¬ 
posure calculations in more detail, giving con¬ 
sideration to other factors that will help you 
make more critical analyses of your Koda- 
chrome problems, with consequent better re¬ 
sults, you may be sure. 


60 


CHAPTER 5 


SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 


T hroughout the preceding 

chapters we have attempted to 
organize our basic thinking 
about the relationship of colors 
to each other—we investigated 
complementary colors—related colors—color 
contrasts and color harmony; and we learned 
the importance of the brightness range or the 
black and white value of a subject. 

If we have succeeded in establishing a basis 
for good color composition the next logical 
step is a better understanding of our light 
sources. For the present we will restrict the 
discussion to the various aspects of sunlight, 
or more properly, daylight conditions. 

Sunlight is sunlight, you say. That is only 
partially true, for there are variations in the 
color quality of sunlight from morning to 
evening; sometimes from day to day; and 
from atmospheric conditions that are not al¬ 
ways easily detected. When we say the “color 
quality” of the light changes we mean that 
during these changed or off normal conditions 
some one band of the spectrum predominates, 
even though slightly. Our problem is to learn 
how variations in this color quality produce 
interesting, and sometimes troublesome color 
effects. 

The color of an object is changed by varia¬ 
tions in the light source, as you may have 
proved with the “white” card experiment 
suggested in an earlier chapter. We found 
then that we see things in their “true” color 
only under pure white light. 

Since we are working in Kodachrome we 
should have an understanding of what takes 
place when you expose a Kodachrome film to 
a color subject. The graph at the right shows 
roughly the difference in the “color balance” 
of sunlight and artificial light. We are con¬ 
cerned only with the three spectral divisions 


SUNLIGHT 



TUNGSTEN 



COLOR 
CONTENT Or 
SUNLIGHT 
& TUNGSTEN 


COLOR 
SENSITIVITY - 
OF DAYLIGHT & 
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 
KODACHROME 



B G R 



i i i 

i i i 


i i i 

V V V 

B G R 


FINAL 

BALANCE 



KODACHROME KODACHROME 


26 


A graph showing the “color balance” of light 
sources, and how the sensitivity of Koda¬ 
chrome film is balanced to compensate. The 
three color bands. Blue, Green and Red are 
indicated because Kodachrome, in negative 
state, is sensitive to these three colors. See 
text for explanation of the negative-positive 
color balance. 


61 



SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 


of the light source because the three layers of 
emulsion of a Kodachrome film are sensitive 
to the complementary colors of the three 
colors that finally make up the Kodachrome 
transparency you view. The emulsion nearest 
the film base responds to red light, the middle 
emulsion to green, and that at the surface to 
blue. In the process of reversal and dye 
coupler development the bottom or “red” 
layer becomes the blue-green portion of our 
final picture, the middle layer becomes the 
magenta and the top layer the yellow. If you 
are interested in following the process in more 
detail such information is available in the 
manufacturer’s literature. 

Our concern is to understand that these two 
types of films (Daylight and Artificial Light) 
are balanced for a light source of fixed bal¬ 
ance. If you will examine the graphs (Figure 
26) you will notice that the Blue band of the 
light plus the Blue sensitivity of the film 
equals the final balance. The same is true for 
the green and red. Now it should be obvious 
that if one color predominated in the sunlight 
the resulting transparency would show an ex¬ 
cess of that color. By “predominate” we mean 
that there would be more of this color in the 
light, in relation to the other two colors than 


LATE AFTERNOON SUN 



"BLUE" LIGHT-OVERCAST OR "NORTH SKYLIGHT 



The above graphs demonstrate why late after¬ 
noon light is so minus in blue and green, and 
why “sky-light” is so minus in the warm col¬ 
ors. Kodachrome will record the “color” of 
the light present. It cannot compensate for 
this out-of-balance. 


in the light source for which the film is bal¬ 
anced. 

The two graphs (Figure 27) illustrate more 
forcefully than words what happens to the 
color balance of daylight (and to your Koda¬ 
chrome result) when you shoot a color picture 
under out-of-balance light conditions. In the 
one extreme we have illustrated the color 
quality of heavy overcast and in the other the 
color quality of early or late sunlight. 

To repeat and be more specific, regular or 
daylight type Kodachrome is balanced for 
mean, noon-day summer sun in Washington, 
D. C. If you are doing your color shooting 
where normal light conditions are different in 
color quality than that for which the film is 
balanced there may be an appreciable differ¬ 
ence in your results, most noticeable in distant 
landscape scenes, of course. On close-up or 
nearby subjects this influence will not be so 
easily detected. 

While it is obvious that the film’s relative 
sensitivity must be balanced to some standard 
light source, it is just as obvious that the film 
cannot automatically adapt its reaction to an 
out-of-balance light source. It cannot, for in¬ 
stance, hold back the excess red in sunset 
light and record the colors, on which this 
“reddish” light falls, as they would appear if 
photographed in the middle of the day. 

Although all variations of sunlight as a light 
source are not out-of-balance ones, this matter 
of color quality is a factor in every type of 
sunlight condition. Some of these variations 
make no practical nor appreciable difference 
in our results. Others must be given serious 
consideration. 

To simplify consideration of the more com¬ 
mon variations in “types” of sunlight condi¬ 
tions we will restrict our discussion to six 
major conditions: (1) Early and Late Light; 
(2) North or “Sky” Light; (3) Reflected 
Light; (4) Diffused Light; (5) Transmitted 
Light; and (6) to general “Out-of-balance” 
Light. 

1 . Early anti Late Light 

You do not have to be reminded that the 
sun looks redder a half hour before sundown 
than it does during the middle of the day, 
and that it gets still redder and redder as it 
approaches the horizon. We accept such 
phenomena without thinking much about 


62 















SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 


why this change in color. The sun’s brilliance 
hasn’t decreased any, of course. It is just as 
bright as at noon. It is only that the sun’s rays 
are being cut down or retarded by something 
interposed between us and the sun. This 
sounds a little too elementary, doesn’t it? 
Perhaps so, but we do not always realize that 
it isn’t just the sun that appears reddish. 
Everything about us is being seen illuminated 
by the same “color” of light as we see the sun. 
But again we are confused by the conflict 
between what our eyes see and what our brain 
tells us is the color of the objects around us. 
In the case of the sun both our eyes and brain 
tell us it is red, but our brain tells us green 
trees are green, that flesh tints are flesh color, 
and so on. 

How does the color quality of sunlight at 
this time of day change so radically? The 
more obliquely the sun’s rays strike the 
Earth’s atmosphere the redder or “hotter” the 
light. The extra thickness of atmosphere, full 
of dust particles close to the Earth’s surface, 
filters out, holds back or scatters (as you pre¬ 
fer) a considerable percentage of the blue 
and purple (violet) rays. The thicker these 
dust particles the redder the sun looks. This 
effect is especially apparent when you see a 
sunset through some factory smoke. In the 
cleaner air of high altitudes the sun at the 
horizon is more yellow-orange than red. 

Early or late in the day our light source is, 
literally, reddish-yellow, and objects reflect 
the “quality” of light which falls upon them. 
Well and good if you are shooting a sunset, 
but if you are photographing flesh tones, 
whites or light colors, this early or late light 
will give everything a “warm” cast (varying 
with the quality of the light), from a faint 
tinge to the strength of a firelight glow. If 
flesh tones appear badly “sun-burned” do not 
blame Kodachrome. It recorded what it saw. 

This effect of reddish light is too obvious to 
warrant more than a reminder of. what we 
already know. But another effect of this warm 
light that few color photographers seem to 
recognize is its influence on the greens and 
blues. Refer again to the Color Wheel and 
note that the greens and blues are comple¬ 
ments of the warm colors. You remember 
that mixture of any two complements pro¬ 
duces a gray. Likewise, when you add a little 
of one color to its complement you tend to 


gray the complement. When you add “red¬ 
dish” light to blues and greens you “gray” 
them—you reduce the purity and intensity of 
their color. If in your shots, made early or 
late in the day, green foliage appears brown¬ 
ish-green, or dark and colorless, it is due to 
this influence of reddish light on its near 
complement, green. 

If you wish to correct for this excess red 
in such light, two groups of filters are avail¬ 
able—Eastman filters CC3, 4, 5, and 6, de¬ 
signed for use with Eastman’s Color Tempera¬ 
ture Meter, and Harrison’s “Blulite” filters 
Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, and 9, for use with Harrison’s 
Color Meter. (See Chapter on Filters.) 

2. Worth or “Sky” Light 

The most obvious example of “sky” light 
is the light in the open shadow on the north 
side of a building. Since no direct rays of the 
sun can reach the area the light reaching this 
area is reflected from the sky plus a relatively 
small amount from surrounding surfaces that 
may reflect some light into this shadow area. 

But there are a thousand other conditions 
where “sky” light affects certain areas of a 
composition and sometimes creates an overall 
effect that results in a bluish-cast in our Koda¬ 
chrome result. Not realizing the effect of this 
sky cast we are inclined to blame the film or 
the processing rather than the light source. 
You may recall a mention on an earlier page 
about the blue highlights on a black auto¬ 
mobile when viewed from a high angle. If 
that sky light affects the black automobile it 
also affects everything in a composition, but 
usually not to an objectionable extent. 

Have you ever taken color shots of figures 
in north or sky light? If so you probably 
posed the figure against the north wall of a 
white house (in open shade) to eliminate the 
hard eye and chin shadows overhead sun 
would cast. This north light is soft, diffused, 
and gives pleasing modeling to face and figure. 
But this light is “out-of-balance,” strong in 
blue—blue reflected from the north sky. In 
your Kodachrome result white will appear 
bluish; strong bluish high-lights will he no¬ 
ticeable in the hair, dark hair especially; and 
the pink tones of the flesh will be slightly 
neutralized (grayed) by this excess blue. 

To partially overcome this excess blue, some 
authorities suggest the use of Wratten No. 1 


63 


SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 


filter for slight correction, or Wratten No. 2A 
for extreme conditions. I have secured results 
more satisfactory to myself, at least, with 
Eastman filters CC14 and CC15, or Harrison’s 
“Coralite” filters No. C y 2 and Cl. 

Another evidence of the effect of bluish, 
north light will appear in any surface facing 
generally north—rock walls (as in Yosemite, 
Zion Canyon, certain angles in Grand Can¬ 
yon)—and the north walls of buildings, on 
boats, and to some extent in back-lighted 
figures. Open shadow areas in your landscape 
shots will appear bluish also because their 
sole source of illumination is from the sky. 

I only want to emphasize that this “north” 
light is a light condition; a change in the 
color quality of light falling on your subject. 
Sometimes this is objectionable, oftentimes it 
enhances the quality of your result. Whether 
you try to correct for it with filters, as in the 
case of the figure in open shade, is very much 
a matter of choice and personal taste. 

While we are discussing the problems of 
excess blue in our light, it might be well to 
mention that the light at high altitudes (5,000 
feet and above) is usually “cooler” than the 
light at or near sea level, and of course, cooler 
than the light for which Kodachrome is bal¬ 
anced. The atmosphere is freer of dust par¬ 
ticles at high altitudes, and the sundown con¬ 
dition proves that the more dust the sun ? s rays 
must travel through the warmer the light. In 
the clearer atmosphere we also get more direct 
sky influence because there is less dust and 
haze to scatter and diffuse this “blue” sky 
light. 

Without going on record against the use of 
a Haze filter in high altitudes, I do suggest 
that better results will usually be secured by 
using Eastman filters CC13 or CC14, or Har¬ 
rison’s Cy 2 or Cl. 

3. Reflected Light 

It may seem misleading to designate this as 
a “variation in light source.” But we are con¬ 
sidering results from the standpoint of all 
light that falls on our color composition or 
subject. In fact every subject is influenced to 
some extent by reflected light. The surfaces 
of your composition pick up light and cast a 
part of it on other surfaces, with some influ¬ 
ence on what we term an object’s “local” 


color. It also affects our value range. This 
problem of reflected light from surrounding 
surfaces is one of the very serious ones of 
the commercial color photographer in studio 
work as colored studio walls will “kick back” 
their own color into his whole color composi¬ 
tion unless he can shield his lights to keep 
them off such walls or other surrounding sur¬ 
faces. You have the same problem in color 
shooting indoors by artificial light, as will be 
discussed in a following chapter. 

To get back to more everyday occurrences, 
you may have noticed that a red shirt or 
blouse will cast a reddish glow under a chin 
or on the neck. White costumed figures seated 
on grass or against full lighted green foliage 
will pick up greenish tints in the whites. Per¬ 
haps most noticeable is the effect of bluish 
light reflected from water onto the under sur¬ 
faces of a white boat. In many instances re¬ 
flected light is only incidental and hardly 
detectable, being objectionable or not, de¬ 
pending upon how and what it affects. 

Permit me to use Bryce Canyon as an illus¬ 
tration again (Figure 28), as this subject 
offers splendid opportunity for the study of 
reflected light as a partial or complete light 
source. The walls of the formations are highly 
reflective. In the illustration herewith the 
left wall is in full, direct sunlight, the right 
wall is illuminated almost entirely by light 
reflected from the left wall (plus some “sky” 
light, of course). The difference in volume of 
light coming back to the camera lens from the 
two walls was not too great, as proved by the 
“compromise” exposure; an exposure in be¬ 
tween what meter readings of the two surfaces 
indicated for either surface alone. Because 
light reflected from an irregular surface like 
the walls of these canyons is greatly diffused 
there is less contrast and less apparent defini¬ 
tion or texture in the wall upon which the 
reflected light falls. If you will refer to the 
Color Plate of Bryce (page 18) you will ob¬ 
serve that reflected light was the principal 
light source, for this was a back-lighted shot 
insofar as the sun’s position is concerned. 

You can often make good use of reflected 
light from surfaces in your composition. For 
instance, a side-lighted figure posed next to a 
white wall, using the reflected light from the 
wall to light up the shadow side of the figure. 
In the illustration of the boy and duck (Fig- 


64 


SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 



28 


In the Bryce Canyon shot the highly reflective character of the rock walls adds brilliant 
color to otherwise “dead” back-lighted surfaces. Note that planes illuminated by 
reflected light are less contrasty than those in direct light. The shot of the boy and 
duck illustrates use of reflected light to illuminate a back-lighted figure. Light is 
reflected from the concrete road. 


29 


lire 29), reflected light from the concrete road 
and from the white clothing provided practi¬ 
cally the sole source of illumination for the 
boy’s face. The wide brimmed hat cut off 
almost all overhead light, although some 
light was transmitted through the straw. If 
this shot had been made on a grass lawn or 
on some other weak reflective surface the face 
would have been badly underexposed. 

Your own experience will suggest no end 
of possibilities in the use of reflected light, 
hut keep in mind the color of the surface from 
which the light is reflected. 

While we are on the subject of reflected 
light, something might be said about the arti¬ 
ficial creation of reflected light, through use 
of reflectors and synchronized flash in Koda- 
chrome photography. Perhaps we have not 
sufficiently stressed the importance of avoid¬ 
ing strong contrasts in the black and white 
value range of close-up subjects. Extreme 
value contrasts are undesirable in any color 
process, whether the medium used is Koda- 
chrome, Kodacolor, Dufaycolor, “one-shot” or 
single separation exposures. 

To reduce contrasts, get light into the 
shadow areas. Neither flash nor reflector (nor 
light reflected from a nearby wall) will have 


any appreciable effect if they are too far from 
the subject. If subject is in full sunlight you 
will not likely overlight the shadow areas by 
being too close. (See chapter on Reflectors 
and Diffusers and the one on Photoflash). 

4. Diffused Light 

When the sun is obscured by a heavy over¬ 
cast we say it is a “gray” day. In fact it is a 
“blue” day. This heavy overcast breaks up 
the light and the resulting light is greatly 
diffused plus being predominately blue in 
character. We do not need scientific proof 
to know that this type of light is “cold” in 
comparison with direct sunlight, and espe¬ 
cially cold in comparison with early and late 
“warm” light. 

Everything in a color shot, made under 
such light conditions, suffers from this out-of- 
balance light, most noticeably in the “light” 
colors. Wratten filters Nos. 1 and 2A can be 
used for partial correction, hut do not expect 
the result to look like “sunshine.” You will 
more than likely just get a cast of the filter 
spread over the entire Kodachrome. The 
basic reason no such filter correction will sim¬ 
ulate sunshine conditions is that the values 
of any composition are pulled together under 


65 



SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 



30 

This shot teas made in a 
weak fog light and al¬ 
though the sunlight meter 
readings were almost as 
high as normal, the “soft” 
light shortened the tone 
scale, or value range. This 
type of light is excellent 
for close-up color shots. 


overcast skies and no amount of color correc¬ 
tion will give the result the feeling of snap 
and zip it would have under normal sunlight 
conditions. 

On the other hand, very light overcast, 
especially if it is a high, thin fog, produces 
a type of diffused light ideal for outdoor 
figure studies, flower shots and most close-up 
subjects. You will find, to your surprise, that 
this light will give you meter readings almost 
as high as in direct, full sunlight. In this 
softly diffused light your black and white 
value contrasts are reduced, and there is less 
likelihood of burning out highlights or ex¬ 
tremely light colors. 

So that you may have a comparison between 
the color rendition and the black and white 
value range of the same subject photographed 
under this diffused light the same illustration 
is shown both in color (as a color plate on 
page 53) and in the black and white above 
(Figure 30). The black and white negative 
was made from a Kodachrome transparency 
in order to translate the color shot into black 
and white values, for comparison. In both the 
black and white and color reproductions there 
are sufficient highlights and shadows to give 
the feeling of sunshine, but the range of 


values is well within the limits of Koda¬ 
chrome. 

Because diffused light is so much more de¬ 
sirable for informal portrait studies and the 
like, I am prompted to suggest to the more 
serious worker in color that he create his own 
diffused sunlight conditions with a canopy or 
screen of fine mesh cheese cloth or better yet, 
the same material used by studio portrait 
photographers to soften their lights. Used in 
combination with reflectors you can create 
an easily controlled light of the finest quality 
for color. (See chapter on Reflectors and Dif¬ 
fusers.) 

5 . Transmitted Light 

Remember the soft, glowing light in the 
deep woods in the Fall? Much of that effect 
is transmitted light—light filtering through 
the colorful foliage. The illustration of the 
girl in the Aspen grove shows practical use 
of this light (Figure 31). The tree trunks 
immediately back of the girl got practically 
all their light by transmission through the 
brilliantly-colored leaves overhead. Other¬ 
wise those trunks would have been badly 
underexposed in any color shot. The trunks 


66 



SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 


were sufficiently darker in value, compared to 
the foreground, to give “depth,” but not so 
dark as to press the latitude of the Koda¬ 
chrome film when the exposure was based on 
foreground readings. 

It is unfortunate that we cannot illustrate 
here, for comparison, full color reproductions 
of Kodachromes of this Aspen Fall color pho¬ 
tographed in flat light and by transmitted 
light. Those shots made in flat light are very 
colorful and seem to be satisfying until put 
alongside other shots made back-lighted, or 
more literally, by transmitted light. The flat 
lighting gives good color saturation but with 
a feeling of “flatness” as though the bril¬ 
liantly-colored leaves were made of colored 
paper. The color of the leaves by transmitted 
light is much more intense although more 
toward an orange-yellow than the more 
lemon-yellow cast of the flat-lighted result. 
Also, in the transmitted light shots there is 
much more subtle color variation, and a feel¬ 
ing of translucence in the foliage. You will 
note the same effect in any foliage that is 
sufficiently transparent. See Color Plate on 
page 215. 

If you like to experiment with the dramatic, 
use colored parasols or those colorful, trans¬ 
parent rain caps or coats for transmitting 
color high-lights or color accents on face or 
figure. Many such simple accessories can be 
utilized for exciting adventures in color. 

For those of you interested in flower photog¬ 
raphy may I offer the suggestion that instead 
of shooting flat-lighted (sun directly hack of 
you), make your shots side-lighted or even 
more into the sun than at a right angle. If 
you expose correctly, you will get more bril¬ 
liant color due to the light that is transmitted 
through the petals. A little study of your 
subject will indicate the correct angle for 
most brilliant color. Results will warrant 
some experimenting. (See chapter on “Flow¬ 
ers and Gardens” and the Color Plate of the 
Garden scene, page 179.) 

Proof of the color brilliance which trans¬ 
mitted light adds can be demonstrated with 
one of your own Kodachrome transparencies. 
View it first by transmitted light, then lay it 
on the whitest, most reflective surface you 
can find (like a white enamel table top), and 
under the strongest of lights. This illustrates, 
crudely perhaps, why you cannot expect color 


31 


prints made from Kodachrome transparencies 
to be as “brilliant” as the transparencies from 
which they are made. Not that the prints are 
less brilliant than prints can be made. It is 
merely that you get all color, in a print, by 
reflection—light going through the dye or 
pigment image on the paper support and then 
being reflected back through the dye or pig¬ 
ment, to your eye. The paper support ab¬ 
sorbs much of the incident light, still more 
of it is “trapped” by the color image, espe¬ 
cially if the image is pigment. 

6. Another Unbttlanced Light 

It may seem that we have about covered 
the range of changed or unbalanced sunlight 
conditions but there is another general con¬ 
dition that seems to belong in this discussion. 

This most annoying condition is the “color” 
of the atmosphere when one is obliged to 
shoot distant landscape scenes at any angle 
toward the sun in any latitude in the United 
States, even when the sun is most directly 
overhead. And by “toward the sun” I do not 
mean “at the sun,” but at any angle into the 
South. The lower the sun in the sky, as in 
the Winter months, the more noticeable the 



Transmitted Light Opened These Shadows. 
The figure and foreground tree are in full, 
direct sunlight. The tree trunks in back • 
ground got practically all their illumination 
by light transmitted through the brilliantly 
colored overhead foliage. 


67 



SUNLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS 


“off color” result. The condition is distinct 
from what we usually term that of a “back¬ 
lighted” subject. 

The scientist explains the color of “haze” 
by telling us that the size of the dust and 
moisture particles in the air determines the 
color of haze, fog, smoke and so on. If these 
suspended particles are relatively large, as 
the moisture particles in fog, all wave lengths 
of light are affected, some of the white light 
is transmitted, some scattered, giving the fog 
a white or milky cast. The point is that all 
wave lengths are affected. Blue haze is blue 
because the atmospheric particles are rela¬ 
tively smaller, passing the red, yellow and 
kindred wave lengths but obstructing and 
scattering the shorter blue wave lengths, cre¬ 
ating a diffusion of blue light. 

We all know that infrared pictures often 
show more distant detail than the eye can de¬ 
tect when on the scene. Infrared rays, being 
of longer wave length than the rays of the 
visible spectrum, pass through atmospheric 
particles that would obstruct and scatter light 
of shorter wave length. 

But we cannot take “infrared” pictures in 
Kodachrome, and this problem of haze color 
is really a serious one in long distance shoot¬ 
ing in color. We still find no answer to the 
difference in the amount or degree of this 
bluish haze cast between shots that are made 
into the North and ones into the South. 

I can give no more authority for my con¬ 
clusions as to what causes this difference than 
my own experience and deductions from sev¬ 
eral hundred color shots made under such 
conditions. The only explanation I can ad¬ 
vance is that whenever we make a color shot 
toward the South (at any angle south of an 
east and west line drawn through the camera 


position), we are actually seeing the “back¬ 
lighted” side of every dust and moisture par¬ 
ticle in the air, and even though these par¬ 
ticles are individually infinitesimal, in the 
aggregate they constitute a bluish film or 
screen through which both we and the camera 
view the scene. Of course we know that any 
haze pulls the distant values closer together, 
with loss of contrast in the scene, but the con¬ 
dition is also one of “color” as well as value. 

I do want to caution you against expecting 
the same color brilliance or color saturation, 
when shooting “south,” which you would get 
when your camera is pointed at some angle 
north of the east and west line mentioned. 

Regardless of the general color of your 
landscape subject the Kodachrome result will 
be “cooler” than the eye sees it. The same sort 
of overall cast one would expect from the use 
of a very light bluish filter. This condition 
is cited also to give you a clue as to why 
some of your Kodachrome transparencies may 
seem unnecessarily “blue” in cast. Why not 
get out some of your shots that have distressed 
you because of their “blue” cast. View or 
project them and recall in each instance the 
direction your camera pointed, and the angle 
in relation to the sun, and the sun’s height in 
the sky. You may find the answer to some of 
your difficulties. Other aspects of these at¬ 
mospheric conditions will be discussed in the 
chapter on “Landscapes.” 

In color photography it is imperative that 
you learn to “see” and appraise the conditions 
under which you are working. In black and 
white photography we are concerned, pri¬ 
marily, with volume and angle of light. In 
color photography our results are dependent 
upon both these factors plus the color quality 
of the light with which we are working. 


Variations in the Color Temperature of Sunlight 


Light Condition Degrees Kelvin 

Mean noon sunlight at Washington, D. C.. *5,400 

Direct sunlight about noon in midsummer may rise to.... 5,800 

Sunlight plus light from clear sky about noon, as high as. 6,500 

Light from a totally overcast sky may be as high as. 6,800 

Light from a hazy or smoky sky may range from.7,500 to 8,400 

Light from the clear blue sky...12,000 to 27,000 

Sunlight, early or late, in winter may drop to below . ___ _ 5,000 

(Data from A. H. Taylor, Trans. 111. Eng. Soc., 1930, 25, 154-160) 


* The color temperature, or color balance, to which Daylight Kodachrome is balanced. Remember that the higher the color 
temperature of the light the “bluer” or cooler its color; the lower the color temperature the warmer the light. 

In high altitudes, under a cloudless sky, the color quality of sunlight is excessively cool, due to the clearer atmosphere and 
to sky reflection. See chapter on “Filters and Color Meters.” 


68 










CHAPTER 6 


OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALGULATIONS 


T HIS book is going to violate all 
apparent tradition by not repro¬ 
ducing the exposure data fur¬ 
nished by the manufacturer. 
You get that with every roll or 
box of Kodachrome you buy. 

Before we get into this subject of exposure 
calculations I should remind you that I am 
omitting tables for movie exposures because 
they would only duplicate some of the tabula¬ 
tions. Movie enthusiasts can refer to the 
“1/25” or “1/30” shutter speed figures (de¬ 
pending upon the shutter speed of their make 
of camera) given for 35mm and Bantam roll 
Kodachrome, as the speed ratings for these 
and movie Kodachrome are identical. 

In this matter of exposure it is self-evident 
that even though our composition and color 
scheme be everything desired, exposure will 
make or break the final result. How best to 
arrive at exposure calculations is no rule-of- 
thumb procedure, as many of us have learned 
through sad experience. 

Even though proper use of one’s tools 
should become as automatic as possible, this 
matter of proper exposure can never be taken 
lightly. Perhaps I approach every color prob¬ 
lem with too much timidity and humility, but 
even after thousands of thoughtfully calcu¬ 
lated shots in color I still find it necessary to 
appraise every situation about as carefully as 
though it were the first color shot I had ever 
made. And I keep a written record of every 
shot I make. There are several reasons for 
doing this. First, it gives me a check on the 
consistency of my shutter equipment. Second¬ 
ly, it provides a means for sharpening my per¬ 
ceptions through study of results, and third, 
it gives me a chance to study the difference 
in fidelity of the various colors captured, 
through comparison of “duplicate” shots at 
slight differences in exposure. 


If you do not keep such records of your 
exposures I suggest that it may be the means 
of acquiring quickly and surely a sharper eye 
for subtle variations in results. And remember 
there is always one best exposure for every 
shot you make. 

Kodttchrome Exposure Tables 

Without in the least disparaging the ex¬ 
posure data supplied with the film, I venture 
the assertion that many of you have found no 
explanation in those tables by which you 
could trace obvious faults in exposure. Not 
that the tables are not accurate, as far as they 
go and if properly interpreted, but no “basic” 
table can cover every situation nor the endless 
subtleties that affect results. One would hard¬ 
ly expect the manufacturer to include a course 
in color photography with his product. 

Our difficulty lies in the impossibility of 
adapting any set of brief rules to such a vari¬ 
ety of conditions. For instance, the tables give 
exposure data for “average” subjects, and for 
others different than average. But just how 
much alteration in color balance and value 
range is necessary to make a subject qualify 
as a “light” or “dark” subject? Just where 
is the dividing line? 

Still further, do all side-lighted subjects call 
for the same exposure compensation? And 
what about the endless variety of back-lighted 
subjects—are they all to be treated alike just 
because they are back-lighted? 

If we follow any rules blindly we may soon 
find ourselves entangled in apparent contra¬ 
dictions from which only a mental Houdini 
could extricate himself. 

As an example, one is supposed to use *4 
smaller stop than “average” for light-colored 
subjects. And to open up l / 2 stop for side- 
(Continued on page 73) 


69 


IN THE COLORADO ROCKIES 


The two reproductions on the facing page are extremes in two respects—in light conditions, 
and in color mood. The shot of the lake and mountains is a “cool” color subject under any light 
condition, but especially so under the “sky-light” condition present when the shot was made. 
The sun had just disappeared behind the distant mountains, and the immediate foreground and 
the lake were illuminated only by light from the sky. This condition contradicted, in color effect, 
what one usually encounters in late evening light. 

The contrast in this scene is not as extreme as might be suspected. Late afternoon light is 
weak, and the clear overhead sky reflected a very considerable volume of light. Hence less value 
contrast between the sun-lighted distant mountains and the sky-lighted foreground. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 6*4 inch Zeiss 
Tessar. The reproduction is four color process, letterpress, plates made direct from the trans¬ 
parency. 


THE PAINTED DESERT 


Like many other landscapes that are principally composed of expansive colorful areas, the 
Painted Desert is splendidly colorful under ideal conditions, and disappointingly drab under 
conditions that “subtract” from the intensity of the local color. 

The shot here reproduced was made on one of those favorable days when the earth was 
damp from a recent rain, and the atmosphere was exceptionally clear. When this earth is dry 
it reflects much less color, and on dry, hot days the distance is diffused by heat waves. This 
variation in color saturation of water absorbent surfaces is a characteristic of sandstone cliff or 
canyon walls, and such materials and surfaces. They are always most colorful when wet or damp. 

The two scenes illustrated here are rather extreme examples of “warm” and “cool” land¬ 
scape compositions. Practically all landscapes fall into one or the other classification, and such 
color moods can often be slightly accentuated through the use of color filters, as described in 
the Chapter on Color Correction Filters. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 5*4 inch Zeiss 
Tessar; Filter, Harrison Coralite Cy 2 . The reproduction is four color process, letterpress, plates 
made direct from the transparency. 


70 



V 

































- 





. 





































































f 












OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


lighted compositions. What does one do if 
the subject is both light-colored AND side- 
lighted? And do we make no allowance on 
back-lighted scenes for whether the surfaces 
are light or dark in color? And doesn’t the 
angle of back-lighting (height of sun above 
the horizon) enter into the calculations? 
Shouldn’t consideration be given to whether 
shadows are “dead” or “luminous?” 

There is only one answer— there is no sub¬ 
stitute for thinking. And no set of rules can 
be more than a springboard for analysis and 
deduction no matter how well intentioned nor 
from what authority they derive. You may 
understand, and correctly so, that I make no 
claims to having any set exposure “formula,” 
and certainly I have no intention of mislead¬ 
ing you with any idea that I have concocted 
an exposure “table” that supersedes any now 
extant. 

All of which is a prelude to what I hope to 
convey about exposure calculations. May I 
repeat that the degree of your progress and 
success in color photography will he in direct 
ratio to your ability to see and interpret con¬ 
ditions that create all results—good or bad. 

The film is a rigid, inert material, as incap¬ 
able in itself of producing a picture as the 
canvas on the artist’s easel. You paint a pic¬ 
ture on the film with light—colored light — 
light reflected back from colored surfaces, if 
you please. Sounds a little forbidding, doesn’t 
t? But you need neither the artist’s ability 
in draftsmanship, nor his knowledge of “mix¬ 
ing” colors, nor his painting technique. Inso¬ 
far as recording what the camera lens sees 
all you need know is the quality and intensity 
range of the light being reflected from the 
various elements in your composition, set a 
diaphragm and shutter speed, press a button, 
and the film does for you what has taken the 
painter years to acquire. 

And may I say again, and parenthetically, 
that the next great advance in color photog¬ 
raphy should be in the direction of more “art” 
in color composition and lighting. Up to now 
workers in color have won their spurs almost 
entirely on mechanical execution and techni¬ 
cal excellence. It is time these limited hori¬ 
zons were expanded. 

To get back to the subject of this chapter, 
let us give some thought to this controversial 
subject of light meters—to use or not to use. 


is a Light Meter “Master” or 
“Servant”? 

I must refer again to my own experience. 
I believe I am a fair judge of light conditions 
and their effect on exposure. But I never 
travel with less than two meters—one for a 
spare in case of accident, and to have one to 
check against the other when in doubt. How¬ 
ever, it is not the fact that you have a meter 
that counts—it is how you use it. 

A meter cannot think. And too many meter 
“addicts” do not. The average meter user 
makes a sweeping panoramic reading of the 
scene before him, with little attention to the 
angle the instrument is held (except to be 
sure he does not have it “hind-end-to”), and 
through some mental process I have never 
been able to fathom, tells himself that the 
meter “reads” 250 or 400 or 1,000—and makes 
his exposure accordingly. 

If his “guess” is approximately correct, he 
is delighted with the resulting color shot. If 
he guessed wrong—well, the film must be de¬ 
fective, or the processing was bad—the fault 
could not have been his because he used a 
meter to determine exposure. 

Which suggests that perhaps there is a right 
and wrong way to make meter readings. Each 
manufacturer furnishes complete data with 
his meter but most of us never wade through 
such detailed instructions. At least not until 
we have had a sufficient number of failures to 
suggest that it might be wise to learn how to 
use the instrument. 

A few general suggestions may be in order. 
The best photo-electric meters are constructed 
so that the “viewing” angle of the cell is about 
the same angle as that of the more common 
focal length lenses. If the meter’s angle is too 
great its cell is affected by areas surrounding 
that included in your picture. The most seri¬ 
ous disadvantage of such wide angle meters is 
that they include tod much sky reading in 
general landscape scenes, giving you an ex¬ 
cessively high reading that hears no direct 
relationship to the average reading of light 
reflected from just that portion of the subject 
framed in or by your camera. 

It is important to know the relationship of 
the angle of your meter and the lens you are 
using. This is so important that meters are 
made for exclusive use with movie cameras 
because most movie lenses have a much nar- 


73 


OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


rower angle of view than flo most of those 
used on still cameras. If you should use a 
movie meter with a still camera remember 
that your meter is not recording, in any one 
position, the full area to he covered in your 
still picture. 

What is the proper way to go about making 
meter readings that will give you a real basis 
for exposure of the subject at hand? These 
suggestions will help. 


32 

1. Be sure you have the meter pointed at 
the area the camera is covering. (Figure 32.) 


33 

2. When possible make a “local” reading 
of each area in your composition, checking 
particularly the lightest and darkest values. 
(Figure 33.) 


34 





3. When you can get close enough to the 
areas in your composition, the best reading 
distance is one about equal to the average 
dimension of the area or object. That means 
about ten inches for readings on a face, for 
instance, and farther hack in relation to the 
size of the larger areas or objects. (Figure 34.) 


35 

4. Do not make readings of surfaces turned 
away from the camera, and when you make 
readings of surfaces turned obliquely to the 
camera, measure them at the same angle the 
lens sees them and not at right angles to the 
, camera axis. (Figure 35.) 


36 

5. When you cannot make “local” readings, 
as in distant scenes, take readings of nearby 
objects of same color and general value as the 
predominating colors and values in your 
scene. But more of that later. (Figure 36.) 

Every composition has “light” areas, “dark” 
areas, and all the in-betweens. In our color 
swatch test (Chapter 4) we found as much as 
three times range in volume of light reflected 
by the red and yellow cardboards, and eight 
times range in the comparison between the 
red velvet and the yellow cardboard, and all 
these surfaces were in the same plane to the 
light source. 




74 


































OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


37 

Graph showing the relative 
sensitivity of the human eye 
and a photoelectric cell to 
the energy in daylight. Note 
that the cell more closely 
parallels the daylight curve 
than does the eye. 



Do Meters “It etui 99 Colors 
Accurately? 

We hear much discussion and a variety of 
opinion as to the responsiveness of photo¬ 
electric meters to the different spectral colors. 
Some say that such meters are several times 
as sensitive to green as to blue and red. Others 
insist that meter response varies so much from 
one color to another that their use is unpre¬ 
dictable if not positively misleading, when 
used for determining exposures for any kind 
of color photography. 

I cannot agree with such extreme indict¬ 
ments. It is true that the curve of sensitivity 
of the photoelectric cell does not coincide ex¬ 
actly with the curve for daylight, but it fol¬ 
lows it much more closely than does the hu¬ 
man eye. 

Perhaps this confusion about meter re¬ 
sponse to colors is due to the fact that photo¬ 
electric cells are sensitive to certain wave¬ 
lengths beyond the visible spectrum, especially 
the ultraviolet. It must be remembered that 
photoelectric meters were designed originally 
for black and white work, and many emul¬ 
sions are sensitive to these “outside the visible 
spectrum” radiations. 

If you will study the graph (Figure 37) you 
will observe that the human eye is rather 
deficient in response to both ends of the spec¬ 
trum, and that the GE Meter cell sensitivity 
(upon which this graph is based) parallels 


the energy in daylight much more closely 
than does the eye. 

If my own experience has been analyzed 
properly I find no fault with the accuracy of 
response of a good photoelectric meter in any 
color problem I have encountered. 

Careful checking with numberless experi¬ 
ments on exposures of extremely light value 
subjects in brilliant light and the other ex¬ 
treme of subjects in very weak light indicates 
that one should discount both excessively high 
and low meter readings. Another way of say¬ 
ing it is that Kodachrome does not seem to 
be as “fast” as the meter in these excessively 
high readings and on the other hand Koda¬ 
chrome seems to be “faster” than the meter 
on extremely low readings. Color does not 
enter into the calculation so much, as we do 
not get extremely high readings except from 
an intense, high-value color, and there is little 
intense color in unusually weak light. 

By excessively high readings I mean above 
1000 on a Weston Master or above 500 on a 
GE meter. One experience with such high 
meter readings occurred when I was doing 
some color shooting in the White Sands Na¬ 
tional Monument of New Mexico some time 
ago. The needle of my Weston Master whizzed 
past the 1600 mark as though it were going 
around a second time. A reading of the North 
sky recorded only 1000. The only areas com¬ 
prising my composition were the wide ex- 


75 































OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


panse of white sand, a distant range of moun¬ 
tains and a few scattered clouds over the 
mountains. The picture was the Sands, and 
one normally would disregard the sky and 
distant mountains in arriving at a proper ex¬ 
posure calculation. Since my experience had 
proved that this meter reading of 1600 (plus) 
should be discounted greatly, the only point 
was how much. Exposures were made based 
on Weston 800 instead of the 1600. The result 
turned out slightly on the overexposed side, 
but only about % stop overexposed. As a test 
shot I made one exposure based on Weston 
1600, with an off-color result. The white sand 
was underexposed and in consequence showed 
a definite bluish cast—a registration of sky 
reflection. 

One theory about why Kodachrome seems 
to be “slower” than the meter in cases of ex¬ 
tremely high readings is that there is a certain 
inertia in film response. We might describe 
this condition as a “crust” through which light 
must break before it can actually and effec¬ 
tively record the image on the emulsion, or 
more properly, before it can affect the sensi¬ 
tivity of the film. If this theory is correct it 
is evident that an excessively short exposure 
(such as one based on a reading of 1600) does 
not allow sufficient light to reach the film to 
both break this “crust” and sufficiently expose 
the film. 

I have found no authority for my deduction 
other than my own experience, but we do 
know that many old time black and white 
photographers “flashed” slow films before 
using them. The most common practice was 
to give the films an excessively short exposure 
with camera pointed at the open sky, or to¬ 
ward a white card. The theoretical purpose, 
at least, was to break the film’s “crust” or 
“threshold inertia.” 

Why not do a little experimenting with this 
idea in Kodachrome? If you want to try it, 
use a white card, give a “flash” exposure of 
1/200 at f/22 or a still faster speed at f/16. 
Then try duplicate shots of some colorful, 
closeup subject, one exposure on a “flashed” 
film and another on one that hasn’t been 
flashed. Do not make any exposure compen¬ 
sation for the flashed film. The result will 
prove interesting, I assure you. 

Now about discounting excessively low me¬ 
ter readings. Again falling hack on my own ex¬ 


perience I have found that Kodachrome is 
“faster” than the average meter in weak light, 
especially in readings at or below Weston 10 
or GE 6. You should understand that I am 
not contending that the film is “slow” or 
“fast” under these extreme conditions. We 
are only trying to establish a relationship be¬ 
tween the behavior of the film and meters 
under these conditions. 

If one can say that any rule can he estab¬ 
lished, I suggest that 

—when general overall readings for the 
main area of your picture (as in the case 
of the White Sands) is 800 Weston or 
GE 500, base your exposure on Weston 
500 or GE 300; if the reading is 1000 
Weston or GE 600, base exposure on Wes¬ 
ton 650 or GE 350; if reading is above 
this and any place on up to the limit of 
the meter’s scale, base exposure on Wes¬ 
ton 800 or GE 450, 

—and when meter reading is Weston 10 or 
GE 6 or below, close diaphragm *4 to V 2 
stop below what the meter reading indi¬ 
cates should be the exposure. 

Permit me to qualify these statements with 
the admission that these deductions have been 
arrived at through my own tests, with my own 
shutter and meter equipment. The result of 
my experience is passed on to you merely to 
suggest an approach to this problem of record¬ 
ing in Kodachrome, colors and values at the 
two extremes of intense light and weak light. 

Effect of Exposure on Color 

You are familiar with the usual theory that 
underexposure of Kodachrome gives the re¬ 
sult a bluish cast and that overexposure tends 
to wash out the blues and emphasize the reds. 

The problem is not quite as simple as that, 
for if it were one could deliberately accentu¬ 
ate either the warm or cool visual appearance 
of the Kodachrome result, under any and all 
conditions, by the mere manipulation of over- 
and underexposure. 

For a more thorough understanding of this 
blue and red influence we must recall the 
exposure test of the five principal colors of 
same material and texture, and remember that 
a correct exposure for Red overexposed the 
Blue slightly and greatly overexposed the 
Yellow. Keep that relationship in mind. If 


76 


OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


we expose these color swatches one full dia¬ 
phragm stop more open than the former cor¬ 
rect exposure for the Red, we have over¬ 
exposed the Blue about 1 y 2 stops. But Red, 
being a naturally more intense color, still 
looks brilliant and intense, but Blue, being a 
less intense color to begin with loses its inten¬ 
sity rapidly as we “dilute” it by overexposure. 
The final result, in the overexposed Koda- 
chrome, is an appearance of excess Red and 
a deficiency of Blue. We have not actually 
increased the intensity of the Red through 
overexposure, we have changed the “color 
balance” between the Red and Blue, and the 
Red predominates. 

The reverse is true when Kodachrome is 
underexposed. Red loses its intensity quite 
rapidly as we lower its value (which we do 
in underexposure), but the intensity of the 
Blue is greatest at a lower value than where 
Red acquires its extreme intensity. 

In underexposing a Kodachrome we in¬ 
crease the intensity of the Blue (up to the 
point where it loses intensity because of low¬ 
ering its value too much), and we “degrade” 
the Red to the point where it appears to be 
a more purple-red, which, optically combines 
with the Blues to accentuate what we call an 
overall Blue cast. 

The color character of the subject has much 
to do with these apparent off-color results due 
to over- and underexposure. My suggestion is 
that you use filters to add a feeling of warmth 
or coolness, if such effect is desired, rather 
than attempt any such alteration of color- 
balance through deliberate exposure manipu¬ 
lation. 

It must be remembered that when you over¬ 
expose you are “diluting” the colors with ex¬ 
cess light—you are raising their value beyond 
the “normal” value at which your eye sees 
them. We know from our previous discussion 
of value changes that the intensity of a color 
is weakened through addition of “excess” 
light. 

When you underexpose Kodachrome you 
are lowering the value of all colors and de¬ 
grading their purity and intensity through the 
subtraction of light—the same visual effect as 
adding black to a color pigment. 

The term “saturation” is a good one to keep 
in mind when considering what exposure does 
to a color. A properly exposed Kodachrome 


38 


Study the Color Plate of this subject on page 
107, to observe the effect of reflected color 
casts on whites. ^ 


will give maximum color saturation to those 
colors exposed “on the nose,” so to speak. If 
the blues and greens in a composition in which 
you also have an area of high value yellow, 
have maximum saturation, the yellow will be 
somewhat washed out, as you know. You also 
know that if you correct the exposure to give 
the yellow maximum saturation, the blues and 
greens in the composition will appear darker 
and less intense than they appear in the sub¬ 
ject. They are degraded through absence of 
sufficient light. Not a deficiency of light on 
those colors in the subject, but the shorter 
exposure has created a deficiency in the 
amount of reflected light necessary to record 
those colors on the film in full saturation. 


Exposure of Light and Neutral 
Colors 

In connection with this discussion of the 
effect of exposure on color results you should 
be reminded that faithful reproduction of 
whites, very light and neutral colors is a prob- 



77 



OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


lem that causes no end of color workers much 
unnecessary distress. While it is true that such 
colors require more accurate exposure for 
faithful reproduction, that fact does not both¬ 
er as frequently as a lack of understanding 
of what is “faithful” reproduction. 

As a premise let us use a rather elementary 
illustration. You can put a drop of white paint 
into a quantity of bright red paint, stir it a 
bit and you would never know any white had 
been added. You have not changed the inten¬ 
sity nor value of the red any detectable 
amount. But add a drop of bright red paint 
to a quantity of white, stir it as long as you 
like and you cannot submerge the trace of 
red. You no longer have a white but a high 
value pink color. 

The same is true with very light or neutral 
colors reproduced in Kodachrome, and it is 
no fault of the Kodachrome because it sees 
and records color casts you never saw in the 
subject being photographed. In fact it is 
surprising that the film can record these ex¬ 
treme subtleties. 

But to get back to the difficulty of recording 
such colors. The real difficulty is in your mind 
and not with Kodachrome. Your brain tells 
you a white dress is white, but unless that 
white dress is shielded from all influence of 
light reflected from surrounding color influ¬ 
ences, like grass lawn, shrubbery, colored 
walls and even the sky, that white dress is 
affected by all these surrounding color influ¬ 
ences. All light and neutral colors are ex¬ 
tremely susceptible to these influences in 
much the same way the white paint is affected 
by the drop of red. (Figure 38.) 

It seems strange that we should rebel at 
these color casts in white or light colored ob¬ 
jects in Kodachrome results, for unless there 
is an excess amount of unwanted color reflect¬ 
ed into the white, it is these pickups of the 
influence of the white’s surroundings that give 
it quality and charm. And how else could you 
secure any modeling or tone variation in the 
various planes of the white dress? The only 
other way, obviously, would be through use 
of tones of gray, and any such “gray” model¬ 
ing would lack the color and crispness the 
incidental and accidental color casts give the 
white. 

If an artist were making a painting of a 
white porcelain object, do you suppose he 


would paint in white and grays? He most 
certainly would not, and what is more he 
would likely use no pure white at all unless 
in a highlight, and perhaps not then. His 
pallette for the painting would be a kaleido¬ 
scopic array of perhaps a dozen colors, all in 
very high value. Through this range he would 
give not only form and character to his paint¬ 
ing of the white porcelain, but he would relate 
it to its surroundings through this use of colors 
found in surrounding objects. 

So do not be alarmed nor distressed because 
your Kodachrome result shows casts of other 
colors in the whites and high value neutral 
colors of your subject. Your concern can safe¬ 
ly be limited to the prevention of strong color 
casts, such as greens reflected onto flesh tones, 
and excessively strong color casts, of a com¬ 
plementary color, on any color portion of 
your subject. 

I have gone into some detail on this aspect 
of Kodachrome photography only because I 
have heard so many color enthusiasts attri¬ 
bute these effects to incorrect exposure. If I 
have made my explanation clear, you will 
understand that exposure has no more to do 
with these reflected color casts than it does in 
altering color balance in any composition of 
more intense colors. The principal thing to 
remember is that you do not notice these casts 
in a strong color composition—it is rather like 
the drop of white in the red paint. Instead of 
being alarmed at the problem of handling 
whites and light colors, learn to utilize these 
reflected color casts to enhance the beauty and 
color quality of your Kodachrome shots. 

We have strayed a bit from our discussion 
of photoelectric meters but I am hopeful that 
the detour was both interesting and helpful. 
After all, everyone of these factors has a bear¬ 
ing on our Kodachrome results, and we will 
get better results when we understand what 
influences affect results and also when we 
learn what results to expect from certain con¬ 
ditions. 

The Meter in Use 

Let’s put the meter to work—make a read¬ 
ing on an actual scene, arrive at a “comprom¬ 
ise” exposure, and check results. (As a Weston 
meter was used on this shot all data applies to 
that meter. Any good meter would have re¬ 
corded the same relative light values.) 


78 


OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


39 

Determining a 
“Compromise Exposure” 

Meter readings on the 
principal elements in 
the composition were 
(A) 800, (B) 65, (C) 500 
and (D) 160. Exposure 
was made on a basis of 
200, with excellent re¬ 
sults. 



Using the meter on this house shot (Figure 
39) was comparatively simple inasmuch as 
it was possible to make accurate readings of 
each area, and each area was large enough to 
give a purely local reading uninfluenced by 
any surrounding area which might be reflect¬ 
ing more or less light. 

The readings ranged from 800 on the “hot” 
corner (A) of the house down to 65 in the 
deepest shadow area (B) under the porch 
roof. The end of the house nearest the camera 
read 500 on the white brick (C) ; foreground 
grass (D) read 160. Remember, all readings 
were taken close-up to “localize” them—the 
only accurate procedure. 

Now to determine our “compromise” upon 
which to base our exposure. The house is the 
primary element in the composition (very 
much so, since this was an assignment for a 
magazine cover), so we use that as our “base” 
for computing our compromise. The house 
readings run from 65 to 800, a four full stop 
range—a spread beyond the capacity of Koda- 
chrome to hold faithfully in both extremes 
in one and the same exposure. But we can 
risk “burning out” the hot corner (800 read¬ 
ing) because that area is relatively small. If 
our exposure is too short we risk “blocking 


up” the shadow area under the porch, and 
that is one of the spots that give atmosphere 
to the setting. We are helped, however, by the 
fact that this shadow area is luminous and it 
falls on a light-colored surface. 

Because the shadow area is larger and will 
have a more critical effect on the general 
result and because we want to record the trees 
and grass as faithfully as possible, we decided 
upon a “compromise” exposure toward the 
lower readings. The exposure was based on 
Weston 200 —about 1 ]/ 2 stops above our lowest 
reading and 2 full stops below our highest. 

Exposure Result: The hot corner held de¬ 
tail; the 500 area shows good detail, helped 
by the strong surface texture; there is no ap¬ 
preciable loss of detail in the shadow area, 
and above all, it is not blocked up. 

Color Result: Roof tiles lost a little color 
saturation, being in a flat plane to the sun; 
the trees and grass are excellent; and of 
course, the white brick are white, with no 
false color casts. It should be stated that if 
the house had been a very light or pastel color 
our exposure (based on a reading of 200, and 
if the light-colored surfaces had measured 
500), would have resulted in apparent slight 
overexposure for such surfaces, with some 


79 









OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 

loss of color intensity. Since white is white it 
is difficult to burn out the color, so to speak. 
Overexposure would not wash out the white 
appreciably, it would merely destroy detail in 
texture. Keep in mind this difference between 
white and extremely light colors. 

In checking the exposure tables furnished 
with the film, we find our shot was made in 
line with suggestions for “average” subjects. 
The tables say (for full, flat light) such ex¬ 
posure should he at 1/50 between stops f/5.6 
and f/8 if we are using 35 mm. or Bantam 
Kodachrome roll film, or at f/8 if Movie at 
1/30 of a second, or at f/9 at 1/25 if cut film 
Kodachrome was used. This is based on film 
ratings of Weston 8 or GE 12 for the 35 mm., 
Bantam and Movie film, and Weston 10 and 
GE 16 if cut film. The actual exposure was 
made on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome, with a 
Speed Graphic, 5)4 inch f/4.5 Zeiss Tessar 
lens with shutter speed of 1/5 second at stop 
f/22. 

Then why bother with a meter? In this 
instance the meter assisted in analyzing the 
subject accurately, especially in helping to 
determine how far we could stop down before 
blocking up shadow areas. If we had followed 
exposure tables blindly and literally, one 
could easily assume that this subject should 
be considered as a “light-colored” one, since 
our interest is centered on the white house. 
Classified as a “light-colored” subject we 
would have used y 2 to 1 stop less exposure, 
and such exposure would have tended to block 
up the shadows; the trees and grass would 
have appeared too dark, and we would not 
have effectively improved the fully lighted 
planes of the house. The result would have 
been contrasty in effect and the whole scene 
would have lost its sunshine feel. 

Perhaps it will clarify the processes by 
which we arrived at this compromise exposure 
if the dial of the meter is diagramed and we 
can see at a glance what the various readings 
were, and in relationship to the latitude of 
the film. (Figure 40.) 

In a general scene, and unless it is necessary 
to preserve full color saturation in the lightest 
areas, it is wise to favor the darker portions of 
the composition in arriving at a compromise 
exposure. 

While it is safe to assume that you are not 
especially interested in making color shots of 


houses, the problem we have just analyzed is 
especially good. Its simplicity makes for a 
quick grasp of value ranges, an easy and ac¬ 
curate meter reading on each area. Also this 
subject contains several different textures— 
some highly reflective, others rather absorb¬ 
ent. 

The same procedure for analyzing any out¬ 
door scene can be followed with equal success. 
And you will have to take my word for it that 
this was a successful result. 


READING READING READING 




SCENE RANGE 3^ STOPS 

Exposure used meant that area® 
was only % stop beyond "A"limit(lot) 
but area (A) was 1 full slop 
beyond'C*limit (400) 
on meter 


M05T 
EFFICIENT 
LATITUDE 

OF TI-IE 
KODACHROME 

FILM 

2 FULL 

f/ STOPS 


40 


The above graphs diagram the meter readings 
secured and the exposure calculations arrived 
at in making the color shot illustrated by 
Figure 39, on the preceding page. 


80 














OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


41 

Underexposure is a com¬ 
mon error on brilliant 
subjects similar to this 
one, for meter readings 
are too much influenced 
by the excessive reflec¬ 
tion from the snow. An 
exposure based on snow 
readings alone would 
badly underexpose all 
other elements in the 
scene. Better to sacrifice 
the texture in the snow 
and properly expose the 
balance of the composi¬ 
tion, unless the snow 
forms are side-or back¬ 
lighted. 



But all scenes will not be so easy to analyze. 
You cannot always get such accurate meter 
readings. And may I add that best results will 
not always be secured by merely taking a 
reading of the lightest area, another of the 
darkest area and then compromise on an ex¬ 
posure half way between the two extremes. 
To elaborate on the seemingly obvious, it all 
depends on what areas of the composition are 
most important, from the standpoint of color 
as well as pictorially. We will assume a com¬ 
position that is made up mostly of dark colors 
or colors of dark value, to state it more pre¬ 
cisely, but in the composition we have one 
area that gives a very high meter reading. If 
we base our exposure on a halfway between 
reading we will preserve the color, texture 
and detail of the light area better than if we 
compromised on an exposure that would favor 
the darker areas, but in preserving that light 
area we would badly underexpose the theme 
or main subject of our picture. Certainly the 
final result would be disappointing, for those 
portions that “made” the picture would not 
be faithfully reproduced and we would likely 
get but small satisfaction out of having pre¬ 
served, rather faithfully, a mere incidental in 
our composition. I mention this only to em¬ 


phasize again that it is never safe to follow 
hard and fast rules like the often recommend¬ 
ed one of compromise exposures half way be¬ 
tween lightest and darkest areas (highest and 
lowest meter readings). It all depends upon 
what makes the picture. 

An example of this problem of deciding 
what to favor in making calculations for com¬ 
promise exposures is any typical snow scene. 
(Figure 41.) The one shown above is typical 
enough to be used as an illustration, although 
in most snow scenes the snow itself will occu¬ 
py a larger proportion of the total area of the 
picture. But that will have no bearing on our 
analysis unless you are after snow texture or 
special effects, in which case you would be 
obliged to disregard everything else in the 
composition, in making exposure calculations. 

In making meter readings on the scene illus¬ 
trated herewith the intention was to disregard 
any readings of the snow as the snow was so 
flat-lighted that it would have been impossible 
to hold any appreciable texture in the snow 
at any exposure. When we say we will dis¬ 
regard the snow reading we must he sure that 
we are not getting some influence in the meter 
readings of other portions of the composition. 
For instance, if in making the reading on the 


81 





OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


trunk of the foreground tree, the reading were 
made from a distance of ten feet, the angle of 
the meter cell would include light reflected 
from the snow on hoth sides of the tree and 
the resultant reading would not be a meter 
reading of the tree at all, hut of a snow area, 
the volume of which might and probably 
would be reduced somewhat because the tree 
cut across the light from the snow. Going 
back to one of the suggestions about proce¬ 
dure in making meter readings you will recall 
that readings should be made from a distance 
equal to the average dimension of the object 
being read. In this instance we should say 
“equal to the smallest dimension,” which, of 
course, is the diameter of the tree. 

The tree shadow on the snow, being a very 
definite part of the final effect of our picture, 
was considered equally important, from an 
exposure standpoint, as the figure and tree 
trunk. By “important” we mean the necessity 
for holding the “color” of the shadow, for its 
color is what added charm to the Kodachrome 
result. Mentally translate this black and white 
reproduction into terms of color and you will 
instantly realize that a shadow such as this, 
cast on snow under an open sky, is not just a 
lifeless gray shadow, hut a beautiful clear 
blue as fresh and sparkling as the sky at high 
altitudes on a bright, sunshiny day. 

The greens of the distant trees gave a meter 
reading within a half stop of that for the 
foreground tree trunk. The general reading 
of the figure was only about a half stop above 
that of the tree. The tree shadow reading was 
within stop of the red jacket on the figure. 

A combination of all these factors suggested 
that the compromise exposure should really 
not be a mathematical half-way point between 
the lightest and darkest objects (disregarding 
the snow) but that since the tree trunk color 
was such a pleasing color contrast to the white 
snow, blue snow shadow, distant green and the 
small portion of blue sky, the best color result 
would be had through an absolutely faithful 
color reproduction of the tree color. Since 
all areas except the snow were well within 
the limits of the latitude of the film the ex¬ 
posure was made for the tree trunk reading 
as though it were the only area in the com¬ 
position. The resulting Kodachrome was bril¬ 
liant and extremely faithful in color. 

Before you suspect that I am suggesting 


that you “anchor” your exposure calculations 
to meter readings from tree trunks let me 
hasten to add that this tree was colorful—a 
rich, saddle-leather reddish-brown—a color of 
more intensity and richness than the green 
foliage by far. And that fact was reason 
enough for using the tree as the basis for our 
exposure, when the other factors mentioned 
were given consideration in relation to their 
degree of importance in our final result. 

The two examples of suggested procedure 
in “Outdoor Exposure Calculations” by no 
means cover all the angles of the subject, hut 
it is to be hoped that the discussion establishes 
a hasis for your own thinking, and points to 
some of the “do’s” and “don’ts” in this matter 
of analyzing any general scene that comprises 
a wide range of colors and values. 

Up to now we have been concerned only 
with those situations where one can make 
careful, accurate meter readings of local areas. 
The more difficult aspect of outdoor exposure 
is presented by those compositions on which 
one cannot make local meter readings. Let’s 
see if we can devise some formula for such 
problems that will be helpful. 

Determining Exposure for Distant 
Scenes 

For instance, what about a color shot in the 
mountains, or some other expansive composi¬ 
tion where these “local” readings cannot be 
made? Published suggestions for “substitute” 
readings run the gamut of credulity—from 
reading the light reflected from the palm of 
one’s hand (dirty or not, I do not know), to 
ones that are about as involved as taking a 
reading of the sky to which you add your age, 
subtract the day of the month, and divide by 
the change your wife overlooked in your 
trouser’s pocket. 

It might be well to remember that it is not 
the amount of light falling upon an object 
that determines exposure—it is the amount 
of light reflected hack to the camera lens that 
affects the film. We know that so well it seems 
needless to mention it. Any device for measur¬ 
ing the volume of incident light is only a 
beginning, and often a misleading one at that. 

In most scenic shots there is a rather wide 
range of tone values. An exception is the 
Bryce Canyon illustration shown in Chapter 
4. It is a type of subject that has an easily 


82 


OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


recognized general tone, and the majority of 
the composition is made up of relatively close 
tone values. In other words it has little con¬ 
trast, and in the value range is generally 
“high-keyed.” Similar characteristics are 
found in desert and water scenes. In cases of 
such overall general tone, one has only to 
decide whether the scene is light, dark or 
average. 

Even though most average scenes include a 
conglomerate distribution of light and dark 
areas, we must arrive at some exposure com¬ 
promise. We cannot expose correctly for 
everything in the composition. But every 
scene has some “general” tone value—it is 
darker or lighter than the general tone value 
of an “average” one. Ordinarily I tab a scene 
as being y 2 or 1 full stop darker than average 
or % or iy 2 stop lighter. When in doubt as 
to the accuracy of my estimate I use an adap¬ 
tation of a gray scale, which, while helpful, 
must be employed with considerable judg¬ 
ment. 

Instead of a single scale (like a photograph¬ 
ic step wedge or gray scale) I use six 18" by 
18" gray cards, each a different tone of gray, 
and of rough texture so they will not reflect 
a glare. (Figure 42.) Card marked “average” 
reflects a reading of Weston 160-200 in full, 
direct sunlight (proved by repeated tests). 
The next darker card reads 100-130, and the 
darkest 65-80. Of the three cards lighter in 
value than the “average” one, the first reads 
250-320, the second 400-500, and the third 
650-800. I use these as an artist sometimes 
uses paint on his palette knife to match the 
tone values of his mixed color to the distant 
area he is painting at the moment. He holds 
the knife at arm’s length, squints his eyes 
until colors disappear and he sees both the 
paint and the distant object in tones of gray. 
I match the gray cards to the scene to deter¬ 
mine what is the general black and white 
value being reflected by the scene as a whole. 
A little practice with such paraphernalia will 
prove it quite helpful—if you are sufficiently 
interested to assemble and calibrate the cards, 
through repeated test meter readings. 

If there is reason to question the volume of 
incident light (as under light overcast) I 
make meter readings of the cards, held flat 
toward the source of light. If the “average” 
card, for instance, reads 100 instead of 160- 
200 (as it should in full, direct sunlight) I 



42 


Refer to the adjoining text for suggestion as 
to use of neural gray cards to help determine 
exposure on distant scenes which, cannot be 
accurately read with a meter. 


make mental note that the intensity of the 
light is about % stop less than “normal,” and 
I base calculations accordingly. 

This card method may seem to be an un¬ 
necessary nuisance, but if you have difficulty 
in appraising the general value of outdoor 
scenes, to determine whether they are light, 
dark or average, use of the cards for a while 
will sharpen your perceptions rapidly. Once 
you have developed your eye for such analyses 
you won’t forget what you have learned. And 
remember that this matter of general tone 
value has nothing whatever to do with the 
color of the scene. For instance, a distant 
mountain might he covered with dark green 
pine trees; that is they would appear dark 
green if you were close to them. But at two, 
three or five miles they probably will appear 
a light grayish blue, especially if they are flat 
lighted. If that mountain happens to be an 
important element in your picture, you must 
take its value into consideration when you 
are arriving at a compromise exposure that 
will also do justice to the foreground or ob¬ 
jects nearer you than that mountain. 

To elaborate on this point a little, let us 
set up a hypothetical case where all meter 


83 








OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


readings of the immediate foreground are be¬ 
low Weston 160. We have no way of measur¬ 
ing the distant mountain. Any such distant 
reading, if it could be called such, would, of 
course, be primarily a reading of the sky. If 
it is a north sky or one opposite the position 
of the sun at the moment, go ahead with such 
sky reading, (read sky just above horizon, not 
at zenith), then squint your eyes at the distant 
mountain and see if you can determine about 
how much darker in value it is than the sky. 
We will assume that your sky reading is Wes¬ 
ton 800, and that your appraisal of the value 
of the mountain indicates that it is quite a 
little darker than the sky. Because you cannot 
know positively what this mountain value is, 
you must “assign” it some value reading, and 
your best judgment says it is Weston 500. 

Now to determine what exposure will do 
justice to the foreground and still save the 
mountain. If you will refer to the diagram on 
page 80, showing the meter dial, you will no¬ 
tice that if you moved the arrow to 160, the 
lower limit of the film’s most efficient latitude 
would be 80 and the top limit 320. An ex¬ 
posure based on Weston 160 would overexpose 
areas above 320 and underexpose those under 
80. This is the 2 stop range within which you 
get the most faithful reproduction of both 
colors and values in Kodachrome. If you 
make the exposure based on 160 the mountain 
will probably appear less distinct in the Koda¬ 
chrome result than your eye sees it in the 
scene, for such exposure is overexposing the 
hill by % stop. Re-examine the foreground. 
If there are no areas except small shadows 
that will go dark or block up, raise the arrow 
on the scale until it is 1 full stop above the 
average foreground readings, which we will 
assume to be 100 to 130. You can safely set 
the arrow at 1 full stop above the 130 mark, 
which would be 250. An exposure at this 250 
setting will make in the processed Koda¬ 
chrome, all foreground objects some darker 
in value than they appear in the subject, and 
those that give a reading below 130, or espe¬ 
cially 100, will be slightly underexposed. But 
on the other end of the film latitude (1 stop 
above 250) we have 500, which we assumed 
to be about correct for the mountain. 

To reduce these calculations to a more easi¬ 
ly grasped comparison, we will make the test 
exposures on 35 mm. Kodachrome (Weston 
rating 8), at 1/50 of a second. 


Average foreground readings.100-160 

“Arbitrary” hill reading. 500 

Exposure (Weston 160).1/50 @ f/5.6 

Film latitude @ f/5.6 is.f/4 to f/8 

Reading 100 calls for.f/4.5 

Reading 500 calls for.f/10 


An exposure at f/5.6 indicates we are not 
using all the film’s latitude in the dark areas, 
for at f/5.6 the film easily covers objects down 
to f/4. On the other end of the scale we are 
overexposing the mountain by 2 / 3 stop—the 
difference between the f/8 limit of the film 
and the f/10 stop the mountain requires for 
proper exposure. 

By changing the basic exposure to Weston 
250 we find this better compromise for the 


scene: 

Exposure (Weston 250).1/50 @ f/7 

Film latitude @ f/7 is.f/5 to f/10 

Our scene limits are Weston 100...f/4.5 

and Weston 500...f/10 


Our new exposure latitude or range covers 
the lower values in the picture to within a 
small fraction of a stop (the difference be¬ 
tween f/5 and f/4.5), we have sacrificed noth¬ 
ing in those areas with a reading of 130 or 
above, and we have given the distant moun¬ 
tain an exposure that will register it as defi¬ 
nitely as the eye sees it in the scene. 

This rather roundabout procedure has been 
described at length because a common failing 
in general landscape shots is overexposure, 
rather than underexposure. One’s tendency is 
to become so absorbed in determining the 
correct exposure for the foreground areas that 
he forgets all about the rest of the scene. 
Another contributing influence toward over¬ 
exposure of the distant parts of the scene is 
that we forget that the film does have latitude, 
even though more limited than we might wish. 

We can press the latitude of the film in 
these lower value foreground areas without 
sacrificing foreground brilliance, and at the 
same time record the distant areas effectively. 

Just keep this one thought in mind—if you 
want to preserve the distant portions of your 
scene, work toward slight underexposure of 
the foreground. 

I might add that the gray cards will assist 
greatly in determining the general value 
range of the distant portions of such scenes 
as the one used in the foregoing problem. 

If this card method seems too cumbersome, 


84 












OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


and if there are foreground objects of same 
color and value as distant areas in the com¬ 
position, like trees, rocks, water, the ground, 
and so on, use readings of these objects as a 
guide to “estimated” reading of the distance. 
But be sure readings are from the same light 
angle as you will use in making the shot. Also 
be sure to remember that the same object a 
mile away will be much lighter in value than 
when viewed close-up, because of atmospheric 
haze—sometimes more, sometimes less, de¬ 
pending upon atmospheric conditions. You 
cannot do better than follow the painter’s rule 
—squint your eyes at the foreground rock, for 
instance, and then look at the same type of 
rock in the distance with the same squinted 
view, and you will see a decided difference in 
the values of the two. After a little of this 
“squinting” practice you will soon learn to 
accurately appraise these more or less subtle 
value differences. 

Since it is several pages since we explained 
what we mean by “value,” let me remind you 
that, color or no color in the scene before you, 
your exposure must be based on the “value” 
(gray scale value) of the light being reflected 


back to your camera. We covered that thor¬ 
oughly in an earlier chapter. 

All general rules can be nothing more than 
just generalization, but these four are rather 
basic, as your experience will prove. 

1. Close-up outdoor scenes have the great¬ 
est value contrast and all colors appear 
more nearly “normal” in intensity. 

2. Distant outdoor scenes have less value 
contrast and all colors appear to be 
grayed. The atmosphere pulls the values 
together and at the same time dilutes the 
color saturation of all objects. 

3. On close-up outdoor scenes, when in 
doubt tend to overexpose rather than 
underexpose, because shadow and dark 
areas are a definite part of most such 
scenes. Slight overexposure ( l / 3 to y 2 
stop) will keep color in all but dead 
shadows, in most instances. 

4. On distant outdoor scenes, when in 
doubt tend to underexpose rather than 
overexpose, because you have no nearby 
shadow areas to save, and in the majori¬ 
ty of cases the general scene is lighter in 


35 mm. and Bantam (Daylight) Kodtichrome (Film rating Weston 8, GE 12) 


General Tone Value , 

of the Subject Shutter Speeds and Stops 



% 

1/5 

1/10 

1/20 

1/25 

1/30 

1/50 

1/60 

1/100 

Very Dark 

f/18 

f/11 

f/8 

f/5.6 

f/5 

f/4.5 

f/3.5 

f/3.2 

f/2.5 

Dark 

f/22 

f/14 

f/10 

f/7 

f/6.3 

f/5.6 

f/4.5 

f/4 

f/3.2 

AVERAGE 

f/32 

f/20 

f/14 

f/10 

f/9 

f/8 

f/6.3 

f/5.6 

f/4.5 

Light 


f/29 

f/20 

f/14 

f/12.7 

f/11 

f/9 

f/8 

f/6.3 

Very Light 



f/25 

f/18 

f/16 

f/14 

f/11 

f/10 

f/8 


(Movie enthusiasts can use either of the two columns under 
1/25 or 1/30, depending upon shutter speed of their camera) 


Cut Film (Daylight) Kodachrome (Film rating Weston 10, GE 16) 



% 

1/5 

1/10 

1/20 

1/25 

1/30 

1/50 

1/60 

1/100 

Very Dark 

f/20 

f/12.7 

f/9 

f/6.3 

f/5.6 

f/5 

f/4 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 

Dark 

f/25 

f/16 

f/11 

f/8 

f/7 

f/6.3 

f/5 

f/4.5 

f/3.5 

AVERAGE 

f/32 

f/20 

f/14 

f/10 

f/9 

f/8 

f/6.3 

f/5.6 

f/4.5 

Light 

f/45 

f/29 

f/20 

f/14 

f/12.7 

f/11 

f/9 

f/8 

f/6.3 

Very Light 


f/36 

f/25 

f/18 

f/16 

f/14 

f/11 

f/10 

f/8 


These tables are based on averages arrived at through rather extensive experience with the medium. If you check the fore¬ 
going tables with your meter you will note that I give the roll film (35 mm., Bantam and Movie) credit for more latitude than I 
have found to be true with cut film—especially in the roll film’s greater response to the very light tone values. I accept full 
responsibility for that statement, but it is a carefully arrived at deduction, however. The roll film also seems to have more contrast 
than the cut film, intentional no doubt, to give greater brilliance in projection. 


85 




















OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


value than you suspect anyway. Slight 
underexposure will give firmness and 
saturation to the lighter values and will 
give you a more pleasing result. True, 
the underexposure may give you a bluer 
cast than you like, but better a little too 
blue and have a picture, than a washed 
out result that records nothing. 

You may find the foregoing exposure table 
a convenient and reassuring aid in quickly 
visualizing a variety of combinations in stops 
and shutter speeds, for various types of scenes. 
You will note again that we must think in 
terms of “light” and “dark” rather than in 
terms of color. 

In many outdoor scenes or relatively close- 
up compositions the value range, from lightest 
to darkest areas, is beyond the efficient limits 
of Kodachrome. You compromise by basing 
your exposure somewhere near the middle of 
this value range, or you favor the darker or 
lighter side of the composition, depending 
upon what portion of the composition you 
want reproduced faithfully. In general, one 
might say we color workers are always shoot¬ 
ing at the “middle” of the scale of values. 

In black and white photography we usually 
get the best effects by exaggeration of tone 
values, and in consequence we work toward 
one or the other end of the value scale. Or 
we may expose for the highlights and let the 
shadows take care of themselves, or expose 
for the shadows and trust that we can save 
something in the highlights. Unless our black 
and white is just a record of the subject, we 
usually strive for effects. 

In color we strive to faithfully register the 
subject as is, rather than an effect or an im¬ 
pression of the subject. In order to faithfully 
record any subject in Kodachrome, in its en¬ 
tirety, it is necessary that the value ranges of 
the composition be within certain known 


limits. In all my tests and experience in prac¬ 
tice, I have come to think in terms of 214 
stops as the limit for this value range. And 
then base exposures, in general a little off 
center, so to speak, that “center” or exposure 
“axis” being 1 full stop above the darkest 
value meter reading and 1% stops below the 
lightest value reading. 

If darkest areas are more than 1 stop below 
your basic exposure they will be underex¬ 
posed, and if lightest areas are more than \ l / 2 
stops above your basic exposure they will be 
overexposed. A simple table shown below 
may help fix in your mind the practical limits 
of value range in any composition, for best 
compromise rendition of all colors. 

These calculations disregard small high¬ 
lights and relatively small dark accents. Ei¬ 
ther might read outside these limits (if you 
could read them accurately) without damage 
to the final result. The exception would be 
light or dark areas that were extremely im¬ 
portant to your pictorial and color result. 

The ideal color composition, from the 
standpoint of exposure, is one that has both 
good color and value contrast, but with a 
value contrast within the limits of the table 
shown below. Oft repeated statements to the 
contrary, the best color composition is one 
that does not depend upon color contrast 
alone for separation of areas and points of 
interest. Some value range gives a feeling of 
solidity and depth not possible otherwise. 

Exposing Side-lighted and 
Back-lighted Subjects 

Such lighting is uncertain at best. Properly 
exposed results are often pleasing and now 
and then dramatic. By side-lighting, as the 
term is used here, we mean shooting at or 
near a right angle to the sun, and this is not to 


Dark Area readings 
should not call for 
a larger stop than 
Stop f/3.2 
Stop f/4 
Stop f/4.5 
Stop f/5.6 
Stop f/8 
Stop f/11 


IF YOUR EXPOSURE 
IS MADE AT ONE OF 
THESE STOPS 
Stop f/4.5 
Stop f/5.6 
Stop f/6.3 
Stop f/8 
Stop f/11 
Stop f/16 


Light Area readings 
should not call for 
a smaller stop than 
Stop f/7 
Stop f/10 
Stop f/11 
Stop f/14 
Stop f/20 
Stop f/29 


86 


OUTDOOR EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS 


be confused with the usually desirable use of 
moderate side-lighting for modeling. 

Side-lighted close-up subjects are usually 
too contrasty in tone or value range, but the 
extent of contrast depends greatly upon the 
color of the subject. It is obvious that a side- 
lighted figure in white is a “safer” subject 
than if the costume is dark red. Side-lighted 
or back-lighted dark colors lose much or all 
color in the shadow side unless appreciably 
influenced by reflected light. 

Side-lighting (less extreme than for good 
black and white) is very desirable for such 
distant scenes as mountains, to give them 
modeling, for otherwise they will look as flat 
as the old drop curtain at the opera house. 
If the side-lighted accents are relatively small 
(not more than % to % the total area) and 
at a distance, you need not make any exposure 
allowance foT them. Remember those shadow 
areas at a distance are not as dark as they 
would be if you were close to them, due to 
atmospheric diffusion. If shadow areas con¬ 
stitute one-half or more of such general scene, 
use y 3 to ]/ 2 stop more exposure if subject is 
“light” in color; 1 full stop more if it is 
generally “dark.” 

This does not apply to close-up, side-lighted 
compositions, where it is imperative that you 
check all areas by local meter readings, and 
arrive at your compromise exposure accord¬ 
ingly. 

Back-lighted subjects are, with few excep¬ 
tions, seldom good color shots. If you cannot 
make close-up meter readings on the hack- 
lighted areas, give such subjects 1 stop more 
exposure if the subject is light in color, and 
2 stops more exposure if it is dark. That much 


more than you would give the same subject 
if it was reasonably flat-lighted, we mean, of 
course. 

Important variables are “dead” or “lumi¬ 
nous” shadows; the character of the surface 
of the object or subject; light conditions (full 
sunlight, light overcast, heavy overcast) and 
so on. Side-lighted and back-lighted subjects 
lose contrast as the volume of incident light 
is reduced, as under overcast sky, as you have 
often noticed. 

Two faults are common to even “good” 
(and I say that advisedly) back-lighted shots 
— (1) true color is lost or degraded and (2) 
all areas in the composition that are in full 
light will he burned out. Skies are invariably 
washed out and colorless. 

In closing this very important chapter I 
want to emphasize that no one can give you 
any general rules for exposure calculations 
that will ever be as helpful or as accurate as 
your own judgment, properly developed. The 
examples and tables given in this chapter 
have been presented only to assist you in for¬ 
mulating, in your own mind, certain basic 
mental processes by which you can develop 
your own formulas. 

One fact should boldly headline any dis¬ 
cussion of exposure problems, and that is that 
no amount of formulas or tables will help if 
your shutter equipment is out of time or is 
erratic. That is a subject in itself and will be 
covered in a later chapter. The foregoing data 
is all predicated, of course, on the assumption 
that our equipment is performing properly— 
that when we set the shutter for 1/25 or 1/50 
of a second that it operates at that exposure 
time interval. 


See page 184 for data on Calculating 
Exposure for Close-up Photography 


87 


BACKGROUNDS FOR HEADS AND FIGURES 

These examples are exaggerated uses of two background color ideas. One is kin to flesh 
color, the other is a near complement to flesh tints. When warm colors are employed as a back¬ 
ground for flesh or costume colors similar to flesh, either there should be rather strong contrast 
between the value of the subject and the value of the background (that is, the background should 
be a darker value warm color), or some device should be used to separate the face from the 
background, as illustrated. 

If a contrasting color is used for a background (as in the lower illustration), value contrast 
or other separation assistance is unnecessary. The two backgrounds used here are often satisfac¬ 
tory for merely colorful effect, but both are too intense in color for pleasing portrait results. 
They attract too much attention to themselves, and offer too much competition to the more 
delicate flesh tones. The safest single rule for portrait background colors is to use those of weak 
intensity (grayed colors) ; the more nearly they are to being complements of flesh and costume 
colors, the grayer they should be, in order to enhance the beauty and delicacy of the flesh tones. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome, Type B; Illumination, Photoflood; Camera, 
Studio View; Lens, 10 inch Goerz Dagor. The reproductions are four color process, letterpress, 
plates made direct from the transparencies. 


88 
























































\ 






















% 

























I 














/ 















% 















* 







































V 








I 







. 




















CHAPTER 7 


KODflCHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


M ANY color enthusiasts have 
timidly avoided indoor 
Kodachrome photography 
because they have the er¬ 
roneous idea that unless 
one has the expensive and complicated light¬ 
ing equipment of the large commercial studio 
he cannot make successful color shots by arti¬ 
ficial light. 

Such is not the case. While it is true that we 
always must have a sufficient volume of light 
(indoors or out), and that the light source 
must have the proper color quality or balance, 
neither of these necessities presents any seri¬ 
ous problem in indoor color work. In fact 
one has the great advantage in that he can 
control both the color quality and volume of 
light; can control light angles and localized 
light effects. He can do none of these things 
as well when working outdoors, and some of 
them not at all. 

Inasmuch as we can always add volume to 
our artificial light source, through employ¬ 
ment of more or larger lamps, we should con¬ 
cern ourselves primarily with the matter of 
color quality. 

You recall the diagram and discussion in 
the chapter on “Sunlight Characteristics,” 
showing how the sensitivity of the three emul¬ 
sion layers of Kodachrome film were “bal¬ 
anced” to compensate for the color balance 
of “normal” sunlight. 

The graph is being repeated here, (Figure 
43) with emphasis on artificial light charac¬ 
teristics. It shows the difference in film sen¬ 
sitivity between Daylight type and Artificial 
light type Kodachrome; and why the artificial 
light source must have the color quality or 
balance for which the film is balanced. 

Do not become confused because these 
graphs mention only the Blue, Green and Red 
spectral bands of each light source. If you 


TUNGSTEN 



SUNLIGHT 



B G R 


COLOR 
CONTENT OF 
TUNGSTEN 
& SUNLIGHT 


COLOR 
SENSITIVITY 
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 
£ DAYLIGHT 
KODACHROME 


V \J/ 

BC R 




FINAL 

BALANCE 


in 

TYPE A&B DAYLIGHT 
KODACHROME KODACHROME 



43 


A graph showing the “color balance” of light 
sources, and how the sensitivity of each type 
of Kodachrome is balanced to compensate. 
This graph should make it apparent why the 
proper type of film must be used for each 
light source, and why light sources cannot be 
mixed. 


91 






KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


will remember that the Kodachrome film you 
expose is, after first development, a negative, 
and that it is also in reverse as to color, you 
will understand why such graphs consider 
only these three color hands. Kodachrome is 
a three color process, as you know, and all 
final color results are combinations of an 
infinite number of variations of values, inten¬ 
sities and amounts of the three final color 
layers superimposed. In the Kodachrome 
transparency the top layer is Yellow, the 
middle layer is Magenta and the bottom layer 
Cyan or Blue-Green. 

Since your color image must first be cap¬ 
tured in a negative, and since that, through 
reversal, becomes a positive, you also must 
think in reverse when you consider the color 
sensitivity of the film. By reverse we mean the 
opposite or complementary colors. As ex¬ 
plained in the preceding chapter the Blue 
sensitive layer of the Kodachrome negative 
becomes the Yellow (or complementary col¬ 
or) layer in the final positive Kodachrome 
transparency; the Green sensitive layer be¬ 
comes the final Red or Magenta one (Green’s 
complement) ; and the Red sensitive layer of 
the original negative becomes the final Blue- 
Green or Cyan layer (Red’s complement) in 
the transparency. 

With that process clearly in mind we dispel 
any confusion the graph might at first create. 
The graph only serves to emphasize how de¬ 
ficient is artificial light in Blue and Green. 
Since the Red (and kindred color bands) pre¬ 
dominate in the artificial light source, either 
the red in the light source has to be retarded 
by a filter or the speed of the Blue and Green 


sensitive layers must be stepped up to balance 
the red. Fortunately for color workers the 
manufacturer has chosen to speed up the Blue 
and Green sensitivity of the film. Otherwise 
the speed of the film would be greatly re¬ 
duced, requiring a great addition to the neces¬ 
sary volume of the light source, or discomfort- 
ingly long exposures. 

A little study of these charts will indicate 
instantly why the final color quality of the 
Kodachrome transparency is so dependent 
upon the color quality of the light source. 
Note that the color sensitivity balance of the 
film is, and must be, fixed. The film has no 
ability to compensate for color variations in 
the light source. You will also notice that the 
“Final Balance” is the sum of the addition of 
the “Color Content” bar (of any one of the 
three colors) to the corresponding color bar 
in the “Color Sensitivity” group. 

It should now be obvious that consistently 
better color results can be secured with an 
artificial light source than under sunlight con¬ 
ditions. In outdoor Kodachrome photography 
you have no control over the color quality of 
the sunlight, and you can only alter color 
results through the use of compensating filters. 

To get a better understanding of artificial 
light characteristics we are obliged to resort 
to the scientists’ terms and measurements of 
light. The physicist designates the differences 
in color quality as color “temperatures” and 
these differences are denoted in degrees Kel¬ 
vin. The lower the degree Kelvin the warmer 
or Redder the light source; the higher the 
degree Kelvin the cooler or Bluer the light 
source. 


<U 

J3 

s 


Light Source Color Temperature, degrees Kelvin 

An ordinary Candle.. . 1,900 

60 watt vacuum tungsten filament lamp. . . 2,509 

100 watt gas-filled tungsten filament lamp.. .. ..... 2,865 

500 watt gas-filled tungsten filament lamp... 2,960 

1000 watt gas-filled tungsten filament lamp. 2,990 

500 watt projection lamp. 3,190 

G. E. Mazda Lamp 3,200 degrees Kelvin_ _ 3,200 

(for use with Type B Kodachrome) 

Mazda C. P. Lamps. . 3,380 

Photoflood No. 4 (1000 watts at 115 volts).. 3,415 

Photoflood No. 2 (500 watts at 115 volts). ..... 3,425 

Photoflood No. 1 (250 watts at 115 volts). 3,440 

(All Photofloods for use with Type A film, but Nos. 2 and 4 are preferable) 


v 

ns 

ns 

<u 

2C 


92 















KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


44 

Never mix daylight with 
artificial light, except in 
the one instance of Day¬ 
light type film and Day¬ 
light type artificial light, 
such as “blue” photo¬ 
flood or “blue” photo¬ 
flash. Daylight records 
as a blue light on Type 
A and B Kodachrome. 



It is sufficient for our purpose to concern 
ourselves only with these differences in the 
Kelvin rating of various artificial light sources, 
and to know which of these balance with the 
color sensitivity of Kodachrome film. 

The table shown at the bottom of page 92 
gives these relative ratings and I have indi¬ 
cated the light sources recommended for both 
Type A and Type B Kodachrome. Artificial 
light type Kodachrome for movies, 35 mm. 
and Bantam is labeled Type A by the manu¬ 
facturer; the cut film Kodachrome is labeled 
Type B. 

If you will recall the previous reference to 
the relation of Kelvin degrees to the coolness 
or warmth of the color quality of artificial 
light you realize that a 500 watt gas-filled 
tungsten filament lamp (2,960 Kelvin) is 
much too red (or yellowish) for the color 
balance of Kodachrome film. On the other 
hand a new No. 1 Photoflood (at 3,440) is a 
little on the blue side as its temperature 
(when new) is higher than that at which the 
film is balanced. 

Photoflood lamps and regular tungstens 
burn more toward the yellow (to reddish) as 
they get older, and old lamps will give a yel¬ 
lowish cast to Kodachrome transparencies 


taken with such a light source. You have 
noticed this yellow cast in old light bulbs 
around the house. The G. E. Mazda (3,200 
degrees Kelvin) suffers only slightly with use, 
dropping no more than 100 degrees during its 
useful life. 

At this point you may be interested in 
knowing that these 3,200 degree Kelvin G. E. 
Lamps are available in more than a dozen 
sizes, from 500 watts to 5,000 watts. For a 
comparison of light volume, a No. 4 Photo- 
flood is rated at 1,000 watts, a No. 2 at 500. 

In Kodachrome work by artificial light it is 
not advisable to mix lights on the same sub¬ 
ject, unless, of course, you want a special color 
effect, and then you must know the color 
quality of your various lamps before you can 
be sure of your color result. That is, do not 
use an old, partially exhausted Photoflood 
with new Photofloods or a 3,200 degree Maz¬ 
da. The old lamps will cast a yellowish tinge 
over the area they cover. But knowing this 
fact suggests effective uses for such old lamps 
for special effects, as well as the use of a new 
No. 1 Photoflood, for instance, with 3,200 de¬ 
gree Mazdas, as the Photoflood when new 
burns a little bluer than does the 3,200 lamp, 
as you will notice by referring to the table. 


93 










KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


A further word of caution—do not attempt 
Kodachrome shots illuminated with regular 
household lamps—their color quality is far 
out of balance, and ordinary bulbs do not 
provide a sufficient volume of light. However 
there are times when you can effectively use 
Photofloods in table or floor lamps, for inci¬ 
dental light or for a special effect, as we will 
illustrate later. 

And do not mix daylight and artificial light 
sources on indoor shots unless you use blue or 
“daylight” Photoflood lamps and make your 
exposures on Daylight Type Kodachrome. 
(Figure 44.) Such blue lamps are seldom 
available although one can have regular pho¬ 
tofloods blue coated for use with daylight film 
for indoor work, and then can utilize daylight 
as a partial source of illumination. If you 
should attempt such an experiment you must 
base your exposures on careful meter readings 
as no regular exposure table for use with 
Photofloods would be of any value. The blue 
coating on the bulb would decrease its light 
output by 40% to 50% in all probability. 

I mention this use of “daylight” Photo- 
floods, with or without daylight as a supple¬ 
mentary source, only because now and then a 
serious color worker likes to test his skill in 
departures from conventional and orthodox 
methods. And I want to be the last person to 
discourage originality and courage in attempt¬ 
ing logical experiments in new phases of this 
fascinating medium of color. Just as some 
workers feel that they get better color results 
in outdoor shooting by using artificial light 
type film, converted to daylight use with fil¬ 
ters, there may be some whose experience 
with the “blue” or daylight type of indoor 
light source may develop a preference for 
daylight film for indoor work. Do not be 
afraid to experiment. 

Do not confuse the experiment we have just 
suggested with the conversion of daylight type 
film to indoor use with filters. You can do 
that, at great sacrifice in film speed, but you 
would be limited to typical artificial light 
sources, and could not mix daylight with arti¬ 
ficial light. Even though there is some merit, 
in some types of subjects, in converting arti¬ 
ficial light type Kodachrome to outdoor use, 
I have never found it advisable to convert day¬ 
light type Kodachrome to artificial light uses. 

To get back to why we cannot mix daylight 



AC A simple device for testing the color quality 
of photoflood lamps. One of known quality 
must be used as “standard.*' 

and artificial light on indoor color shots, no 
explanation is necessary beyond reference to 
the graph shown on the first page of this chap¬ 
ter. Your artificial light type film is especially 
sensitive to blue, as you will notice, and day¬ 
light, in comparison with artificial light is 
excessively blue. In consequence, if daylight 
streams through a window onto a part of your 
subject area, that area will be extremely blue 
in color. 

Testing Color Quality of Lights 

The foregoing discussions should impress 
upon you the importance of using artificial 
light sources of the proper color quality—the 
color balance to which the film is balanced. 
We have also cautioned against mixing lights 
that differ in color quality, such as using old, 
partially exhausted Photofloods with new 
ones. 

How is one to know whether or not one or 
more lights is burning too much on the yel¬ 
lowish side because of long usage? 

The most accurate method of measurement 
of the color temperature of your light source 
is an Eastman Color Temperature Meter. But 
this instrument is rather expensive for any 
one except such professionals as do nothing 
hut studio color work. This instrument is de¬ 
scribed in the chapter on “Filters and Color 
Meters.” 


94 
































KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


A simple home-made device will serve the 
average individual’s need and the method is 
sufficiently accurate for checking all but subtle 
variations in color temperatures of your lights. 
(Figure 45.) As this method is one of visual 
comparison it may require a little practice to 
develop your eye to the point where you can 
detect more than extreme variations. By re¬ 
ferring to the diagram herewith you will note 
that the device is merely a V-shaped white 
card with an area on each side of the V of not 
less than 18" square. From the apex of the V 
a dividing card extends toward the operator 
18" or more, as you prefer. This dividing card 
serves to restrict the vision of each eye to the 
area of the V card on the corresponding side. 
Now hold the lamps to be tested on each side 
of the V card, as illustrated, and in such posi¬ 
tion that the lamp on the left side, for in¬ 
stance, is not casting any of its light on the 
right side of the V card. With the two lamps 
in proper position hold the dividing card 
close to the face so that right and left eyes see 
only their corresponding sides of the V card. 
You will be surprised at how accurately you 
can detect a difference in the “color” of the 
two sides of the V card. 

But you must start with one known factor, 
such as one new or nearly new Photoflood, 
against which you check the color quality of 
an old and questionable Photoflood. There is 
nothing complicated about the deduction you 
get from such test, as Photofloods only change 
in one direction in color balance as they get 
older, and that is toward the warm or yellow¬ 
ish side. 

Controlling Reflected Light 

Remember, in placing your lights, that light 
from them is reflected back from every sur¬ 
face they strike, whether such surfaces hap¬ 
pen to be a part of your picture area or not. 

This reflected “kick-back” from walls, ceil¬ 
ings, drapes, and objects in the room can be 
a help or hazard, depending upon the color 
of their surfaces, their reflective power, their 
distance from your lights and their proximity 
to the main object in your composition. (Fig¬ 
ure 46.) 

These reflected lights from walls, etc., are a 
hazard when they are from surfaces of strong 
color and when those reflected colors kick 
back unwanted colors into your picture. One 



reflected from the pale green walls onto the 
white costume. 

example might be a figure in white posed in 
the corner of a room with green walls. The 
whites, the flesh tints and the hair (especially 
light hair) would all show traces of the green 
light reflected from such walls. Another vex¬ 
ing problem is close-up flower studies in 
which your whole effort is concentrated upon 
the most faithful reproduction of the color of 
the flowers. In your attempt to add a color 
mass to your composition you might use a 
colorful table cover as the base for your flower 
group. If your light and camera angle look 
down onto this table cover you will find the 
flowers very definitely influenced by the col¬ 
ored light reflected from the table top. These 
are only a few of the more obvious hazards of 
unwanted reflected light. 

Such reflected influences can be helpful 
when the surfaces doing the reflecting are 
white or a high-keyed neutral color, for they 
help add overall illumination to your subject, 
which partially counteracts the “hardness” of 
direct, strong light sources. 






KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


■n 



of face and figure, and usually on the back¬ 
ground. 

If for some reason you want to eliminate all 
possibility of reflected light influences, place 
the figure or still life or whatever is your sub¬ 
ject, in the middle of the room and set up a 
plain white or light neutral background be¬ 
hind the subject at right angles to the camera 
axis. 

It is hardly necessary to elaborate further 
on this reflected light “help or hazard.” Mere¬ 
ly survey the surroundings before you deter¬ 
mine on the location of subject and camera 
and the placement of your lights. It should 
be emphasized that the film will record these 
reflected light influences to an apparently 
exaggerated extent because the film cannot 
make the compensations and adjustments to 
these subtle conditions that your brain and 
eyes do. That is why we are so often distress¬ 
ingly surprised to find “color casts” in our 
transparencies that we did not notice in the 
subject before we made the exposure. 

flow Many Liyhts? 

Before we discuss lighting arrangements 
and number of lights that might be used, we 
should consider the physical limitations of 
indoor photography by artificial light, at 
home or in improvised studios. There are 
limitations but they are not serious handicaps 
to the photographic efforts of most of us. 


The first limitation is the lamp load we 
can put on the average house electrical circuit. 
The average house circuit is wired for only 
15 amperes capacity, which will safely carry 
no more than two (2) 500 watt Photofloods 
(the No. 2’s). In addition, the main house 
fuse is usually for a maximum capacity of 30 
amperes, regardless of the number of separate 
circuits. Unless your wiring arrangement is 
such that it will carry a heavier load than just 
described, you are limited to the following 


light load: 

No. of Lights Total No. 

on 1 Circuit Lights 

1— No. 4 Photoflood (1000 watts) 2—No. 4’s 

or or 

2— No. 2 Photofloods (500 watts) 4—No. 2’s 

or or 

4—No. 1 Photofloods (250 watts) 8—No. l’s 


There is nothing alarming in this limitation 
as four No. 2 Photofloods in efficient reflectors 
will provide all the light volume you will ever 
want to use. And that number of lights give 
you no end of combinations and variations in 
your lighting arrangements. 

Placement of Liyhts 

As you have observed, most lighting dia¬ 
grams for indoor photography (black and 
white or color) show the light or lights placed 
near the camera position. In this position all 
illumination is “front” light, which accounts 
for the “hard,” flat look of many color sub¬ 
jects photographed by artificial light. (Figure 
47.) 

To confuse us still further, exposure tables 
for artificial light work are based on use of 
front light only, and with little consideration 
given for the effect of diffused or reflected 
light from nearby white walls or other highly 
reflective surfaces. There is no complaint that 
such exposure tables assume only front light, 
but only because they suggest that such light 
is always preferable. It is not, as we shall see. 
We should explore the desirable possibilities 
of more interesting lighting arrangements, 
and what effect they might have on exposure 
calculations. 

The advocates of front lighting assume that 
the light or lights near the camera position 
will “flood-light” every plane and area seen 
by the camera, and that color contrast will 
provide sufficient interest in the color result. 


96 








KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


I suggest you ponder this fact—that since 
we have the advantage of control over light 
sources in artificial light photography that we 
be a little less obvious in our approach, and 
that we make full use of this opportunity for 
an infinite variety of pleasant and dramatic 
effects. 

While it is true that most outdoor color 
shots are illuminated by a single light source, 
the sun, practically all outdoor subjects as 
close up as most indoor subjects must neces¬ 
sarily be, would be immensely improved 
through use of reflectors, synchronized flash 
or supplementary light from highly reflective 
surrounding surfaces. To argue that it is un¬ 
necessary to have more than front lighting in 
indoor work because we have only one sun 
outdoors is no argument at all, as you can 
prove by critically examining the average run 
of close-up outdoor Kodachrome results. They 
are too contrasty; they include “black” shad¬ 
ow areas and too often many areas are degrad¬ 
ed in color because of insufficient illumina¬ 
tion. 

Does this imply that we should avoid front 
lighting? Far from it, and no more so than 
to suggest that we should dispense with the 
sun in outdoor work. What we do mean to 
imply is that far more interesting color effects 
can be secured through the employment of 
lights that supplement our main front light 
source in very much the same way we use 
reflectors or flash to supplement direct sun¬ 
light. Keep in mind that light is light regard¬ 
less of where you find it, and that balancing 
the illumination on an indoor subject is much 
the same problem as in outdoor work. And it 
is an easier problem as you have control over 
all light sources when they are on a light cord 
plugged into an electrical circuit. The sun is 
usually less amenable. 

Using Front Light Only 

I trust the foregoing criticism of the short¬ 
comings of front light techniques has not mis¬ 
led you into false assumptions. There are 
many indoor compositions on which front 
light is sufficient, and in some cases, desirable. 

Here are a few suggested applications of 
front light technique: 

1. If you want an effect of a single light 
source, and shadow areas in the composition 
are a part of the effect you desire, then place 



in the shadows. 

the subject far enough away from all reflective 
surfaces so that no appreciable amount of 
light is kicked back onto the subject. You 
might want to use this type of lighting ar¬ 
rangement on a still life subject of geometric 
shapes such as pottery, a statuette, or in mak¬ 
ing a character study, or a close-up of a white 
lily blossom, for instance. 

The relation of fully lighted areas to shad¬ 
ow ones can be altered by moving the light 
source farther to the right or left of the 
camera. Front light can still he called front 
light if kept within, say, 25 or 30 degrees of 
the line from camera to subject. In such a 
shot your background will go extremely dark 
or black, because of the rapid fall-off in light 
from the source. If you want to be sure of a 
black background for effect, the subject 
should be in front of any background surface 
at least a distance equal to the distance from 
lights and camera to the subject. (Figure 49.) 
For example, if light and camera distance to 
subject is six feet, background must be six 
feet, or more, back of subject. 

2. A second variation of front lighting could 
duplicate everything suggested in the illustra¬ 
tion just given plus the utilization of some 
surrounding surface as a reflector on the shad¬ 
ow side of the composition. If you cannot 
place the subject near a white or light neutral 
colored wall, you can hang a white sheet or 
use a large white card on the shadow side. 
(Figure 48.) The advantage in using a wall is 


97 










KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 



49 


If subject is well forward from the back¬ 
ground, the background will be “underlight¬ 
ed” from a front light, and the darker back¬ 
ground will “absorb” objectionable shadows 
to some extent. 


that you can include any portion of it in your 
picture you desire, and it serves the double 
purpose of reflector and part of the back¬ 
ground. (Figure 50.) If you use a card or 
sheet you will want them beyond the limits 
of your picture. Then you must survey what 
is to be the background in the final color re¬ 
sult. It might be a white wall some distance 
behind the subject, but you will he surprised 
to find it dark or black, in the Kodachrome, 
instead of the white you expected it to be. 
The farther it is behind the subject the darker 
it will be, due again to the lack of carrying 
power of your lights. This is a common error 
in indoor photography for as the room seems 



illumination from a single front light. 


light we see the white walls as white, although 
they are actually a dark gray in comparison 
with the full brilliance of our subject on 
which the lights are focused. We overlook 
such value ranges in judging light conditions 
because we have our attention so concentrated 
on the subject that we forget to check such 
seemingly unimportant details as the distant 
wall. 



vide very good illumination for indoor color 
work. 

3. A third type of front light can be pro¬ 
vided with two lights, one on either side of 
the camera. (Figures 51 and 52.) You can 
follow either the “black background” tech¬ 
nique of our first illustration or the second 
suggestion, in which we used walls or special 
reflectors for supplementary illumination. If 
your subject is immediately in front of a back¬ 
ground, this divided and cross-light arrange¬ 
ment will create double shadows on the back¬ 
ground with unpleasant results. Being an odd, 
unnatural effect, these “crossed” shadows as¬ 
sume an annoying importance in the pictorial 
result. If you use a middle value, or darker, 
background such shadows will be less con¬ 
spicuous. 

Three advantages of this divided front light 
arrangement are (1) that the lights “see” 
around the subject as does a two-lens stereo 
camera, thereby getting more light into side 
shadow areas; (2) you can have one light at 
a low position from the floor and the other 
higher than the camera, giving more oppor- 


98 







KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


52 

One of the most flexible 
lighting arrangements is 
the employment of one 
front light, high, and an¬ 
other front light, low. 
This use tends to give 
more even illumination 
for color photography, 
which requires shorter 
scale lighting than does 
black and white. 



tunity for variety in light angles; (3) and by 
using one light of 1000 watts, for instance, 
with the other a 500 watt or 250 watt, you 
secure still further variety in light effect. In 
fact when two “divided” lights are used one 
light should, in practically every case, be 
twice the volume of the other, such as a 1,000 
watt with a 500 watt, or a 500 watt with a 
250 watt. If lights are of equal volume they 
will set up no end of conflicting highlights 
and shadows. There are exceptions to all rules 
and it is conceivable that you might have a 
subject which could be made more dramatic 
through use of two lights of equal volume. 

In all front lighting you must expect some 
shadow problems, especially on backgrounds 
close to the subject. Also, all front lighting is 
“flat” lighting and there is always a tendency 
toward the lack of modeling, in the Koda- 
chrome result, we usually associate with flash- 
at-camera exposures in black and white. It 
should be remembered, though, that color 
compositions, if they have any color separa¬ 
tion, can stand a more flat light than is ever 
desirable in black and white work. 

Never trust your eye to give you an accurate 
estimate for exposure calculations, nor the 
value rendition of the darker areas in the 


picture. In making exposures always follow 
a dependable exposure table for the number 
and kind of lights you are using, and faith¬ 
fully follow directions as to distance of lights 
to subject. Errors in such distances are mul¬ 
tiplied in the exposure result. If you have a 
light meter, use it painstakingly and accurate¬ 
ly, measuring every area in the composition 
“locally” and not at camera distance. You will 
arrive at compromise exposure calculations in 
the same way we discussed in the chapter on 
outdoor calculations. You shoot for the “mid¬ 
dle” reading if you are after an overall rendi¬ 
tion of all colors, letting the highlights and 
the darkest areas take care of themselves, or 
you compromise toward the highest meter 
reading, or the lowest, depending upon which 
portion of the composition you want repro¬ 
duced the most faithfully in both color and 
value. 

As to the rendition of the value range of 
your composition, your eyes will always de¬ 
ceive you. The final Kodachrome result will 
be much more contrasty than you estimate the 
scene to be unless you have checked every 
area carefully with a light meter, in which 
case you will then know what to expect. Fol¬ 
low the rule of 2% stop range between high- 


99 





KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


53 


Indicated use of a front light at camera, high, 
and a side light, low, as diagramed in Figure 
54. 


est and lowest meter readings, and keep in 
mind that any portion of your composition 
that gives a reading outside this range will he 
noticeably over- or underexposed, as the case 
may be. Also remember that indoor work is 
close-up work, and that in Kodachrome it is 
always advisable to keep the value range of 
close-up compositions within as close limits 
as possible just so long as you do not carry 
this “flatness” to a monotonous extreme. 

So much for front lighting. 

Front and Side Light 

Perhaps the most all around satisfactory 
lighting setup for home use is the combination 
of front and side light. (Figure 53.) To sim¬ 
plify our thinking let us assume that the front 
and strongest light is the “sun” and that the 
side light is a reflector or synchronized flash. 
With this in mind we first do the best possible 
job of lighting the subject with the front light 
and with the same care we would place a sub¬ 
ject in direct sunlight, for best overall light¬ 
ing. In daylight we would he obliged to place 
the subject to the source of light; in artificial 
light work we have the advantage of adapting 
our light source to the subject. 

After you have satisfied yourself that you 
have the camera angle you want and the front 
light so placed as to give you an almost satis¬ 
factory picture with front light only, turn off 
the front light and start your experimenting 
with the side light to get the best possible 


side-light coverage. Try the light in several 
positions. It need not be at right angles to 
line from camera to subject. (Figure 54.) Also 
try raising and lowering this side light as well 
as changing its angle to the subject. When you 
have satisfied yourself that you have light on 
all the shadow areas that will be exposed in 
your composition, then turn on the front light 
and view the subject from camera position to 
be sure that your side light is properly placed. 

Although you can use the same volume of 
light in both front and side lights (at the same 
distance from the subject), it is usually ad¬ 
visable to use one-half the amount of light for 
side-lighting. If you use lights of equal vol¬ 
ume, as a 500 watt in each position, move the 
side light back about 50% further from sub¬ 
ject than is the front light. The fall off in light 
will serve the same purpose as using a smaller 
wattage light. 


54 


Lighting diagram used in the illustration 
shown as Figure 53. Note that lights used 
were of different volume. 


If (and remember this “if”) the volume of 
the side-light is less than the front light, and 
if this side-light is kept at near a 90% angle, 
then base your exposure on the front light 
only—either from an exposure table or a 
meter reading with the side-light turned off. 
Tf side-light is hitting many of the front 
planes, and adding to the volume of the front 
light, the only safe procedure is to make 
meter readings with both lights on the subject. 




100 










KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


Lighting the Background 

There are times when the background must 
be held, in color and value, as nearly “nor¬ 
mal” as possible. Separate lighting of the 
background is the only solution as the front 
light will not provide sufficient illumination 
to hold the background in its proper relation 
to the subject. (Figure 55.) Light falls off 
rapidly, and if the distance of the subject 
from the background was only half the dis¬ 
tance of subject to front light, the background 
will get only about half the proper amount of 
light to give it the same exposure as will he 
correct for the subject. 

Another very good reason for using back¬ 
ground lighting is to kill the shadow created 
by the front light. Sometimes you can so place 
the side-light that it will partially eliminate 
a bad shadow and in so doing of course it 
adds light to the background. 



CC Lighting diagram used in the illustration 
dd shown as Figure 56. The background lights 
eliminate background shadows, as well as 
raising its “key.” 

In determining distance for background 
lights keep in mind the effect you wish. You 
want a background to be a background. If it 
is dark in both color and value it will need 
all the light you can give it; if it is light in 
color and value be careful not to overlight and 
washout the color. (Figure 56.) A light meter 
is almost a necessity for determining all these 
factors although you can soon learn to judge 
background lighting in relation to the light¬ 
ing of your subiect. 



of background lights. In black and white the 
effect is “flat” but the contrast range is about 
right for color. 

Btick-lighting the Subject 

The two illustrations (Figures 57 and 58) 
and accompanying diagrams suggest a varia¬ 
tion of what might be termed front lighting. 
In either case the front light should be twice 
the volume of the back-light since it is assum¬ 
ed that in practically all such situations the 
back-light would be much closer to the sub¬ 
ject than would the front light. You want to 
avoid too much “competition” between your 
light sources, in back-lighting a figure, unless 
you are after a very noticeable effect of back¬ 
lighting. (Figure 59.) 

It is difficult to suggest any formula for such 
arrangement as it all depends upon what you 
are trying to accomplish. For that reason this 
idea is merely suggested as a means of pro¬ 
ducing effects. 

Never attempt to produce a back-lighted 
effect by underexposing the front of your sub¬ 
ject if you expect to preserve anything like 
faithful rendition of color and value. It is 
preferable to over-light through back-lighting 
and that will not be so difficult to accomplish 
in effect as your background will go darker 
than it appears anyway, and that will help 
create the illusion of strong back light through 
value contrast. 

Do not expect too much from back-lighting 
as you can accomplish little more than the 
creation of a “halation” around a still life, for 
instance, or a feeling of hack-lighting in hair, 
in a portrait or figure study. Your first prob- 


101 






KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 



57 


Lighted with one front light at camera, and 
one light on background. Note tone value of 
background in comparison with that in illus¬ 
tration below. 


59 


Diagrams of the very simple lighting arrange¬ 
ments used in making the illustrations shown 
as Figures 57 and 58. 


lem is to keep the light hid from the camera 
lens, and this fact alone limits what may he 
done with such lighting. 





Same front light at camera, but background 
light turned toward face and off the back¬ 
ground, to create contrast on the face. This 
“ highlight” value helps pull the head out of 
a dark background. 


Shadowless Backgrounds 

A very simple device for creating shadow¬ 
less backgrounds, and still have a light, high- 
keyed background, is to stretch a sheet or 
other fabric of equal transparency across a 
door opening and place a light behind the 
sheet. (Figure 60.) How much light you will 
need behind the sheet, or how close the light 
must be to the sheet depends upon the volume 
of your front light, distance of light to subject, 
and so on. Since all corrections in placement 
of lights can be made visually this matter of 
eliminating shadows on backgrounds, with 
this device, is really not much of a problem. 

There are times when you want a little 
shadow effect, and this too is easily accom¬ 
plished through moving the light back of the 
background still farther away until your front 
light gives you the shadow value you desire. 

Do not misconstrue our references to front 
light as meaning that you cannot create shad- 
owless pictures except with front light. You 
can, of course, use any lighting arrangement 
you wish, entirely independent of this back¬ 
lighted background idea, and still incorporate 
the shadowless background lighting. 


102 


















KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 




FRONT 

LIGHT 



60 


A simple device and lighting arrangement for 
the creation of shadowless backgrounds. Also 
has many possibilities for interesting “lumi¬ 
nous” color effects. 


Using Colored Lights 

We have emphasized so repeatedly the ne¬ 
cessity for using light sources of the proper 
color quality for the film we are using that 
we may have stifled our imagination a bit. 
When we say that the color quality of our 
light source must he correct, we mean, of 
course, that we must have this balance be¬ 
tween light source and film if we are to re¬ 
cord the colors in our composition faithfully. 

But there are times when we may wish to 
create colors that do not appear in our com¬ 
position. The most obvious introduction of 
color through use of colored light would be 
through giving a white background color by 
using background lights covered with colored 
cellophane, for instance. Go back to the dia¬ 
gram showing use of two 250 watt background 
lights. You merely cover these lights with 
colored cellophane and you have added that 
color to the background. In so doing you must 
remember that this cellophane covering will 
decrease the volume of light, how much de¬ 
pends somewhat upon the color used, and it 
is seldom advisable to use more than one 
thickness of the cellophane as two or more 
thicknesses added, with the ostensible idea of 
adding more color merely defeats its own pur¬ 
pose as the extra thicknesses will cut down 


the volume of light to such an extent that the 
resulting color will be so dark in value that 
even to hold it as you see it would require 
much more exposure than you would be giv¬ 
ing the fully lighted subject. At any rate the 
idea has unlimited possibilities and will war¬ 
rant some experimenting. 

Another use of “added” color would be a 
blue back-lighting on figure, for instance, 
using the same back-lighting idea as shown 
in the diagram on the opposite page. 

Still another, use a light blue cellophane 
over a side light, to give the shadow side of the 
subject a cool feel. Or you can reverse the 
process and add a weak warm cellophane to 
the side light and create an illusion of strong, 
warm highlights. In this case you should 
bring the side light in close enough to the 
subject to be sure of creating an effect of your 
principal light source coming from the side. 
You can make these compensations visually, 
but the safest procedure would be to check 
both front and side-lighting carefully with a 
light meter to be sure you are getting the 
proper balance between front and side light. 

Do not attempt to add overall color to a 
composition by covering all light sources with 
colored cellophane, for instance, because the 
resulting color transparency will appear just 
as it will to the eye if you view your subject 
through such colored transparent material. 
The Kodachrome will hold the colors in your 
subject but it will look as though it has been 
given an added dye bath of a color corre¬ 
sponding to the color used over the light 
source. This is mentioned only as a caution 
against any attempt to bring partially worn 
out photofloods back to their original color 
quality by covering them with a light blue 
cellophane. Such color correction might be 
accomplished successfully if you had a Color 
Temperature Meter with which to measure 
the color quality of such covered lamps. Even 
then it is much better to correct with a filter 
than to attempt such correction at the light 
source. Such filter correction is uncertain 
unless used with the Meter. If your lamps are 
badly exhausted it is cheaper to buy new 
lamps than to waste film under conditions 
that thwart every possibility of a satisfactory 
Kodachrome result. 


103 






KODACHROME BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT 


Determinitty Exposures 

The diagrams and suggestions in this chap¬ 
ter have been given only to stimulate your 
own thinking and originality. Most diagrams 
for artificial light photography show such 
data as distance of lights from the subject; 
number and wattage of lights; exact angles 
for lights and camera and other such sugges¬ 
tions of definite formulas. The rigidity of 
these directions tends to suggest that one can¬ 
not, or should not, depart from the mathe¬ 
matics of the problem one iota. 

I am not inferring that these tables will not 
produce desirable results, hut I do feel that 
you will develop more flexibility in your 
thinking and will go farther in creating new 
and often better results through starting at 
the other end of the problem. That other end 
is the placement or arrangement of lights to 
create the effect you want and do that first, 
before you concern yourself too much about 
distances and whatnot. The only thing you 
must keep in mind is the necessity for plenty 
of light volume, which means that you cannot 
have all lights twice their effective distance 
from the subject. This effective distance is 
regulated, somewhat, by your subject. If you 
are photographing some object that will stay 
in a fixed position for an indefinite period, 
you can work with lights farther away and 
give the subject a longer exposure to compen¬ 
sate. If you are photographing flowers that 
tend to droop quickly under the impact of 
strong light, or if your subject is a person, 
you must shorten your exposure to the point 
that will accommodate the situation. In this 
latter case the shorter exposure needed de¬ 
creases the “effective” distance at which you 
can place lights. 

Those of you who do not have a light meter 
will be obliged to follow the regular tables 
given for the purpose, and in consequence 
your flexibility of action will he somewhat 
. limited. 

In all your calculations on placement of 
lights and determination of the proper dis¬ 
tance of lights to subject, keep firmly in mind 
the first law of light, as illustrated by the dia¬ 
gram herewith. This law is that “The bright¬ 
ness of an object falls off in proportion to the 
square of the distance between light source 
and object,” or to state it another way, “The 


illumination on an object varies inversely as 
the square of the distance from the light 
source to the object.” (Figure 61.) 



(Three times the distance, the volume of tight) 


Cl A graph showing the ratio at which artificial 

” ■ light falls off as it travels from the light 

source. 

In practice this means that if you move a 
single front light back from a position three 
feet from your subject to a distance of six 
feet, (twice the distance) the subject is then 
getting only one-fourth as much light (not 
one-half) as when the light was at a distance 
of only three feet. If you should move the 
light back three times as far, or from three 
feet to nine feet, the subject would be getting 
only one-ninth as much light. Or reverse the 
process—when you move the fight closer to 
the subject, as from six feet to three feet, you 
do not just double the fight volume on the 
subject, you quadruple the fight volume. It is 
rather important to remember this fact when 
you are using more than front fight. It is both 
an advantage and a hazard when you are using 
a side fight with a front fight, for example, 
and it is another reason why the problem be¬ 
comes much simplified when you use a fight 
meter to check fights individually and in 
combination. 

There is nothing difficult about producing 
good color results with artificial fight. It is a 
technique all its own, that is true, but no more 
difficult to master than any other phase of 
photography, and in many respects less, as 
you have control over all factors that influence 
results. 

Think through what you want to accom¬ 
plish, then go to work. Your timidity and hesi¬ 
tancy will soon disappear, and you will have 
launched into a new and almost limitless 
phase of Kodachrome photography. 


104 


















Exposure Table—Type A Kodaehrome—Photoflood Lamps 


For checking tables against Meter readings use Film Factor Weston 12 or GE 20 

Although a Light Meter is not an absolute essential in artificial light color work, it is advisable as it is the only way you can 
definHely check the value range of your subject, and can then make corrections in light placement to even up the illumination. 
This is quite important when you are lighting the subject from several angles. 


For 35 mm. and Bantam Film Size Cameras 


Number and Size 

Shutter 







of Photofloods 

Speed 

f/2 

f/2.8 

f/3.5 

f/4 

f/4.5 

f/5.6 

Two No. 1 or 

1 sec. 

30 ft 

21 ft 

17 ft 

15 ft 

13 ft 

10 ft 

One No. 2 or 

1/5 

13 ft 

9% ft 

7i/ 2 ft 

6/4 ft 

6 ft 

4% ft 

One No. 2R 

1/25 

6 ft 

4 ft 

314 ft 

3 ft 



1/50 

4 ft 

2% ^ 




Four No. 1 or 

1 sec. 

42 ft 

31 ft 

24 ft 

21 ft 

19 ft 

15 ft 

Two No. 2 or 

1/5 

19 ft 

13 ft 

11 ft 

9% ft 

8% ft 

6t/4 ft 

Two No. 2R or 

1/25 

8 ft 

6 ft 

4% ft 

4 ft 

33/4 ft 

3 ft 

One No. 4 

1/50 

5% ft 

4 ft 

2% ft 





The above table of Lamp-to-Subject distance presupposes that the lights are grouped or not widely separated, and that they are all 
focused on the main portion of your composition. Weaker side or fill-in lights can be used without affecting the exposure of front 
lighted portion of the composition. 


The above table is for subjects that are average in color and value. For darker than average, use V*> f/ stop larger or move lights 
20% closer to subject. If lighter than average, use *4 f/ stop smaller or move lights about 10% farther back from subject. 


Movie Cameras—8 111111 . and 16 mm. Kodaolirome—Photoflood Lamps 

For checking tables against Meter readings use Film Factor Weston 12 or GE 20 


Number and Size Shutter 


of Photofloods 

Speed 

3 ft 

41/4 ft 

5 ft 

6i/ 2 ft 

7 ft 

9 ft 

13 ft 

Two No. 1 or 

Normal 

f/5.6 

f/4 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 

f/2.2 

f/1.9 


One No. 2 

!/4 Speed 

f/8 

f/6.3 

f/5.6 

f/3.5 

f/3.2 

f/2.8 


Four No. 1 or 

Normal 

f/7 

f/5.6 

f/5 

f/4.5 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 

f/1.9 

Two No. 2 

1/4 Speed 

f/10 

f/8 

f/7 

f/5 

f/5.6 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 


For darker than average subjects, use y 2 1/ stop larger. 

For lighter than average subjects, use % f/ stop smaller. 

Calculations are based on use of Kodaflectors or equally efficient reflectors. 


Exposure Table—Type B (Cut) Kodaehrome—3200° Kelvin (GE) Lamps 

For checking tables against Meter readings use Film Factor Weston 6 or GE 10 

The following table is offered more as a guide as to number of lamps needed, and distance at which they should be placed, than 
it is as a guide to definite exposures. Use a Light Meter if possible, for it is your best assurance of determining the value range 
of your subject, and in balancing your illumination for best color results. The 3200 Kelvin Lamps recommended burn in any 
position. Other sizes and base styles are available in 1000, 1500, 2000 and 5000 watt capacity. 


Number and Size 
of 3200 K Lamps 

Shutter 

Speed 

5 ft 

7 y 2 ft 

10 ft 

15 ft 

Two 500 watt 

1 sec. 

f/11 

f/8 

f/4 

f/3.5 • 

A-25 3200 K 

1/2 

f/8 

f/5.6 

f/3.5 



1/5 

f/5 

f/3.5 



These lamps must be used in efficient reflectors, preferably a matte finish. 


Note: In all artificial light color work the results are affected 

by serious fluctuations 

in voltage in the 

electrical circuit. The 

voltage should not run lower than 105 nor higher than 120. 





SPECIAL NOTE* 3200° Kelvin Lamps may be used with Type A Kodaehrome IF a Harrison B *4 filter is used. The principal 
advantage of this departure from Photoflood is the longer life of the 3200° Kelvin Lamp (about 50 hours compared to 6 hours for 
Photofloods) plus the additional advantage of the constant light quality. 


105 















PHOTOFLASH AS SOLE LIGHT SOURCE 

It is very much a matter of personal preference as to whether photoflash or photoflood is 
the better light source for such color subjects as this one. 

In favor of photoflood, the photographer has an opportunity to experiment with light 
placement, to better check the composition and make alterations under the light conditions 
being used for the exposure, and to observe the influence of light reflected from walls, ceilings 
and nearby objects. 

Photoflash offers the advantage of more illumination, and an instantaneous exposure. In 
the case of children or pets, this often means the difference between getting the shot or capturing 
a “movie” on still film. Photoflash is less likely to disturb the subject than will the heat and 
glare of photofloods. It is often advisable to use photoflood to determine light placement, etc., 
and then make the exposure by flash. 

As pointed out on previous pages this color plate emphasizes the effect of “color casts” on 
white or very light neutral colors. The casts on the white costume are from the colored walls. 
Although less detectable, this color cast also affects the true color of the yellow chair. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome, Daylight type; Illumination, two No. 3B (blue) 
Wabash Photoflood lamps, one high at left of camera, one low at the right. Camera, Speed 
Graphic; Lens, 7*4 inch B. & L. Convertible Protar. The reproduction is four color process, 
letterpress, plates made from a Wash-Off Relief Color Print from the transparency. 


106 
































































* 
































































































* 




























































































■ 
















CHAPTER 8 


KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


L EST you suspect that any discus¬ 
sion of the use of Photoflash with 
Kodachrome must necessarily be 
a revamp of what has already 
been said about Photoflood as a 
light source, let me hasten to remind you that 
the only similarity between the two tech¬ 
niques is when they are both used as the sole 
light source. 

With the exception of using a combination 
of blue photoflood with daylight, all uses of 
photoflood assume that it is the sole and only 
light source. 

Photoflash is more flexible in use than is 
Photoflood. In the first place, you carry your 
own “light plant” with you with Photoflash. 
The use of Photoflood is limited, on location, 
by the distance to an accessible electrical cir¬ 
cuit. You can use Photoflash anywhere you 
can hold a camera or set a tripod. 

The four most obvious uses for Photoflash 
with Kodachrome are: 

1. Synchronized flash, in sunlight, to fill in 
shadow areas in the same way one might 
use reflectors. 

2. Synchronized flash, in sunlight, to furnish 
a light source nearly equal to that of the 
sun, using the flash to illuminate the 
back-lighted side of the subject, with the 
sunlight being used for highlights and 
accents. 

3. Synchronized, or open and shut flash 
(bulb or time), for night shots indoors 
or out, with flash being the sole light 
source. 

4. Synchronized, or open and shut flash 
(bulb or time), where you use existing 
illumination as supplmentary light, such 
as house lamps, etc. 

As each of these four uses present distinctly 
different problems it will avoid confusion if 
we discuss each separately and without regard 


for techniques that may be common to all. 
Repetition of those common characteristics 
should only serve to emphasize them. 

Flush in Sunlight 
—To Fill In Shutloiv Arens 

In making such shots you must, of course, 
use daylight type Photoflash lamps (such as 
G. E. No. 21B or Wabash No. 2B or 3B), in 
order to maintain approximately the same 
color balance between the film, the flash and 
sunlight. (This applies even though you 
might be using artificial light type Koda¬ 
chrome, converted to daylight use with a 
filter.) 

As each subject is a different problem, it is 
not advisable to lay down any hard and fast 
rules as to whether (1) you should use a flash 
in the gun on the camera, or (2) have the 
flash on an extension cord running from the 
flash gun to a position away from the camera, 
for side-light, for instance, or still further (3) 
whether you should use one flash lamp at the 
camera and another on an extension cord at 
the same time. The character of the subject, 
the angle of sunlight to the subject, and other 
easily recognizable factors all influence the 
choice of the number of flash lamps to he 
used, and at what position they should be 
placed. 

One illustration might serve as a basis for 
such analysis. We will assume your subject 
to be a close-up figure shot. If the sun is 
overhead such light will cast heavy eye, nose 
and chin shadows. We might go one step 
further and assume that the subject is wear¬ 
ing a hat, the brim of which casts a shadow 
across the forehead. If you are satisfied with 
a lower than eye-level camera angle, then a 
flash in the gun on the camera will open up 
all those distracting shadows. On the other 


109 


KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


hand, let us assume that you want a higher 
than eye-level camera angle. Then it might 
be advisable to run an extension cord from 
the gun on the camera to a flash lamp set or 
held some three feet from the ground, at the 
proper angle to pour light into the shadows. 
That is one type of problem. 

For a second illustration, we will assume the 
figure is turned so that in addition to the eye, 
nose and chin shadows we also have a large 
shadow area on the side of the face and body. 
Flash at the camera would open up these 
shadows to some extent, but a flash lamp, 
used as a side-light, and directed at these 
shadows from the side would do a more effi¬ 
cient job of even illumination. 

A third problem, and perhaps the most 
common, is that of getting sufficient light into 
shadow areas when the camera to subject 
distance is more than the effective distance of 
the flash at the diaphragm stop you want to 
use. To. state it more specifically, say the 
camera to subject distance is 15 feet and you 
want to use a sufficiently small lens stop to 
hold good depth of focus from the subject 
(on which you are focused), on through to a 
background that is another 10 or 15 feet 
behind the subject. (The shorter the focal 
length of the lens you are using the less 
serious this problem of holding sharpness for 
any depth beyond the point of focus, of 
course.) 

In this case you are obliged to use a flash 
lamp closer to the subject than is the camera, 
if the flash is to be effective. And this means 
that the flash lamp must be on an extension 
cord, and moved to within half the distance of 
camera to subject, more or less depending 
upon what size flash lamp is employed, what 
diaphragm stop you are using, etc. 

Perhaps we should clarify the suggestion 
that it is necessary to hold good depth in color 
shots. Out-of-focus backgrounds in black and 
white work are seldom objectionable and 
often desirable, but quite the contrary is true 
in color. In consequence our problem of flash 
with color calls for a more precise and exact¬ 
ing evaluation of some of the factors the black 
and white worker can usually disregard. An 
out-of-focus background in black and white 
merely serves as a tone or value against which 
your sharply focused subject stands forward. 
On out-of-focus backgrounds in color you have 


an uncertain conglomeration of color which 
the eye tries to make into recognizable shapes 
and identifiable objects. I think you will 
agree with that conclusion. 

In using synchronized flash as a supple¬ 
mentary light source, disregard the flash in 
calculating exposure if you can place the flash 
anywhere you wish in relation to the subject, 
and independent of camera position if neces¬ 
sary. After you have determined the f/ stop 
you will use, then check your flash data to 
determine at what distance you must set the 
flash to get the desired effectiveness at the 
aperture you have selected. 

For instance, let us suppose that you have 
decided to use stop f/Il, and the flash lamp 
you propose to use will (according to flash 
exposure data) give the desired effectiveness 
when placed at a 9 foot distance from the sub¬ 
ject, regardless of camera to subject distance. 
If the camera is farther than 9 feet from the 
subject, the flash must then be used on an 
extension cord, obviously. 

Do not expect much effectiveness from a 
flash placed at 12, 15, or 18 feet from the sub¬ 
ject when the flash data says 9 feet, for stop 
f/11. You will recall that light falls off in¬ 
versely as the square of the distance, whether 
it is photoflash or photoflood, as illustrated in 
the preceding chapter. 

If you cannot place the flash lamp closer 
than 12 feet (instead of the 9 feet the ex¬ 
posure data suggests) you must then use a 
larger f/ stop and a faster shutter speed, to 
compensate for the greater distance of the 
flash from the subject. If the distance of flash 
from the subject cannot be altered, you must 
start your exposure calculations with what the 
flash requires, and then use an f/ stop and 
shutter speed to fit that calculation. This 
procedure contradicts our previous statement 
that one bases his exposure on the sunlight 
reading of his composition and lets the flash, 
as supplementary light, take care of itself, 
insofar as its effect on the overall exposure 
goes. But there are exceptions to all general 
statements, including this one. 

Before we get too involved, we should re¬ 
member that there is only one factor in calcu¬ 
lating a flash exposure by itself and indepen¬ 
dent of any other light that may he present. 
That one factor is f/ stop, for the flash has 
its own shutter speed, so to speak, inasmuch 


110 


KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


62 

Synchronized flash used 
to fill in shadows on the 
foreground figure. One 
No. 21B photoflash lamp 
was used five feet from 
the figure, just outside 
the picture at the right. 
Lamp-to-Subject dis¬ 
tance determined by the 
// stop used for the ex¬ 
posure. The loner illus¬ 
tration shows an identi¬ 
cal exposure without the 
flash. 



as the interval of light output is fixed. That 
is the length of time a flash “burns.” Most 
flash lamps burn no more than 1/25 of a 
second, with peak light output lasting only 
about 1/50 of a second. So when we talk 
about gearing our exposure to the flash we 
mean we have to assume a predetermined 
flash shutter speed of about 1/50 of a second, 
and with that factor fixed then determine at 
what f/ stop we can expect any effectiveness 
from the flash. 

Some explanation should be given as to why 
I have suggested, or at least inferred, that one 
should use such small f/ stops as f/11 or even 
smaller. One reason, and the one previously 
mentioned, is to insure holding good depth in 
one’s color shot, on the assumption that you 
do not like out-of-focus backgrounds any bet¬ 
ter than do most other color enthusiasts. The 
other reason, and in practice you will find it 
a perfectly valid one, is that the smaller the 
f/ stop the slower the shutter speed, and with 
slower shutter speeds you are more likely to 
have efficient synchronization of shutter and 
the flash, as all you need be concerned about 
is that the flash fire sometime during the in¬ 
terval the shutter is open. Still further, there 


is a lag in extension cord flash, and size of 
wire and other factors enter into precise syn¬ 
chronization, all of which (within reasonable 
limits) is eliminated when you use a shutter 
speed of 1/25 of a second or slower. 

After all this discussion of synchronized 
flash in sunlight, a perfectly natural question 
is, “Does Flash, as a supplementary light 
source, improve outdoor Kodachrome re¬ 
sults?” The answer is a most emphatic “yes,” 
on relatively close-up shots and if your com¬ 
position includes any sizeable or distracting 
shadows. Obviously there is no need for flash 
on perfectly flat-lighted sunlit subjects. But 
such flat lighting is not always the most inter¬ 
esting, and two light sources give one an 
opportunity for controlling value range and 
rendition of color not possible with one light 
source. And in controlling the value range 
one controls the modeling of his subject to a 
very appreciable extent. 

We use flash, in sunlight, with black and 
white to hold detail in the shadows. We use it 
in color not only to hold detail but to pre¬ 
serve color, and to bring the value range of 
the subject well within the effective limits of 
the Kodachrome film. It cannot be repeated 


III 


KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 



CQ Using Flash on 
Extension Cord. 
Such accessory equip¬ 
ment permits placing 
where it is most needed 
and closer to subject. 
Used here to throw light 
into some hard face 
shadows, caused by the 
strong side-lighting. 


too often that in all color work we must strive 
to shorten the scale of values of our composi¬ 
tion; must bring the scale of values within 
shorter limits than is necessary for good black 
and white. It seems rather strange that syn¬ 
chronized flash should be so universally rec¬ 
ognized as a most necessary adjunct of good 
black and white photography, when so little 
has been done to promote its use with color, 
where its usefulness is even more pronounced. 

Perhaps we can add some weight to our 
argument for synchronized flash outdoors by 
showing a “before and after” example. The 
illustration (Figure 62, page 111) shows how 
much a GE No. 21B (one of the smallest 
lamps for outdoor use) blue photoflash lamp 
opened up the shadows on the girl’s figure. 
There was no change in camera position nor 
distance, nor in exposure. The lamp, on an 
extension cord, was placed under the um¬ 
brella just outside the picture at the right, 
and the light was directed by a small reflector 
of the type used on flash guns. The flash lamp 
was about four feet from the figure. Camera 
was about nine feet from the foreground 
figure. 

Although the man was four or five feet 
beyond the foreground figure the flash had 


some effect even at this extra distance, as 
evidenced by the shadow across his arm and 
body cast by the umbrella pole. There is 
nothing unusual in this shot in either its con¬ 
ception or execution. It is a most ordinary, 
snap-shotty type of picture but you do not 
need to see the Kodachrome transparencies 
to appreciate that in the one with the flash 
the shadows were eliminated and the figure 
had roundness and solidity. In the other, the 
figure had only a two plane modeling—one 
plane all light, and the other all dark. 

Exposure on this shot was 1/10 of a second 
at f/16 on 4x5 Cut film Kodachrome when the 
film had a speed of Weston 5, instead of the 
present speed of 10. This exposure (f/ stop) 
was not enough for full effectiveness of the 
flash (it should have been f/11 or f/12.7) but 
the f/ stop used was purposely a little smaller 
than flash data called for in order to keep 
away from an overlighted, flashlight feel in 
the color result. 

Extension Cord Flash 

This use of photoflash is so flexible and 
offers so many opportunities for better Koda¬ 
chrome results that it deserves a little more 


112 











KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


consideration than we have given it in the 
preceding pages. 

Perhaps I should add that extension cord 
flash is not limited to situations where the 
need for supplementary light is almost im¬ 
perative. In fact one would be safe in assert¬ 
ing that 75% of all close-up Kodachrome 
subjects could be. improved through use of 
a flash on an extension cord. You notice we 
do not say merely that 75% of such color 
shots would be improved by use of flash as a 
supplementary light source regardless of posi¬ 
tion of the flash. We might carry that asser¬ 
tion still further and say that the best results 
will be secured if the flash is always used on 
a cord rather than in the gun at the camera. 

The reasons for this preference for flash 
that can be placed independently of the cam¬ 
era position should be obvious. First, when 
you use flash at the camera, as a supplemen¬ 
tary light source, in sunlight, you are more 
likely to get a flat, flash-light appearance in 
your Kodachrome result. Second, cross-light¬ 
ing helps model the subject. Third, when the 
flash can be placed anywhere you have more 
flexibility in choice of exposure. 

The illustration at left (Figure 63) may 
seem to be one of those cases where the use 
of synchronized flash was a little superfluous. 
But remember you are not viewing the subject 
from the same angle as was the camera. As 
you will notice by the ground shadows the 
subject is posed in a low side-light, the sun 
being a little to the hack of the camera, hut 
not at such angle one could designate as “flat” 
light. The lighting is flat side-light. From 
the camera angle there were some very hard 
shadows on the side of the face and figure. 
To have made the shot without the aid of 
flash the face and figure would have been en¬ 
tirely too contrasty in the Kodachrome, and 
because of the strong contrast between light 
and shadow the shadows would have been 
colorless, or almost so. 

To get light into these shadow areas, even 
though they were small in relation to those 
areas in full light, three GE No. 2IB photo¬ 
lamps were used in shallow reflectors. The 
perspective of the reproduction foreshortens 
the apparent distance from camera to flash, 
and from flash to subject, but the flash was 
actually at about a 45 degree angle from the 
camera axis. If deeper reflectors had been 



with sunlight being used for accent. 

used it would not have been necessary to use 
three photolamps, but the reflectors used were 
all that were immediately available. 

The problem illustrated is a very simple 
one, but it is also one that demonstrates rather 
conclusively that flash at the camera would 
have been of little if any value. 

You may be interested in another device I 
have found most helpful in all such synchro¬ 
nized flash work. The flash gun on the camera 
is wired so that it can be fired by a short ex¬ 
tension cord with push-button switch. This 
removes all possibility of camera movement 
when you are making slow exposures, gives 
one the opportunity to stand at a different 
level than camera position, or any one of a 
dozen other advantages helpful in practice. 

Balancing Flash anti Sunlight 

You will not want to stop with the use of 
flash purely as a supplementary side or fill-in 
light, but will be eager to undertake balancing 
flash with sunlight in such problems as shown 
in the reproduction above. This illustrates 


113 



KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


the second simple adaptation of flash tech¬ 
nique, previously mentioned as “ Synchro¬ 
nized flash, in sunlight, to furnish a light 
source nearly equal to that of the sun, using 
the flash to illuminate the back-lighted side 
of the subject, the sunlight being utilized for 
highlights and accents.” 

In this problem (Figure 64) the sun was 
behind and a little to the left of the figures. 
Time, about 2 o’clock on a June afternoon. 
Visualize, if you will, that the figures were 
getting no light except on those planes turned 
toward the sun. Those planes are most evi¬ 
dent on the man’s figure—the side of his face, 
his right shoulder and the planes of the legs 
facing the sun. On the girl’s figure the sun 
was catching the outline of her hair, a little 
of the side of the face, the outline of the 
shoulders and was hitting her hands and 
knees. If the shot had been made in that 
light we would not have had even a satisfac¬ 
tory black and white result as the contrast 
between light and dark was too great to hold 
both extremes. 

To have over-lighted the shadow areas 
would have produced a flat result much the 
same as though the figures were facing di¬ 
rectly into a low sun. The object was to 
utilize the sun for strong modeling and ac¬ 
cents, and by so doing produce a Kodachrome 
result that would look like one thinks his eyes 
see such a light effect. Above all, it was 
important to hold the feeling of strong sun¬ 
light, which could be accomplished by slightly 
under-lighting the shadow side of the figures, 
for the sake of all the contrast the latitude of 
the Kodachrome film would permit. 

Exposure calculations were determined as 
follows: Meter readings were made of the 
areas in full sunlight—the highlighted areas 
of the final result. The back-lighted portions 
(most of the composition, in fact) were dis¬ 
regarded in these meter readings. A Wabash 
No. 3B photoflash lamp was used near the 
camera, at the same low angle. The distance 
the flash should be placed was determined by 
using the flash manufacturer’s table for ex¬ 
posure when flash is employed as the sole 
light source. This calculation disregarded for 
the moment, the meter readings of the sunlit 
areas. Whatever sunlight was being reflected 
into the hack-lighted areas of the figures was 
disregarded because the effective light from 
the flash would “smother” this weak light. 


The indicated f/stop for the flash at six 
feet from the figures was f/11. The meter 
readings of the sunlit areas called for a shutter 
speed of 1/25 of a second if stop f/11 was to 
be used. Theoretically, such an exposure 
should have balanced the amount of illumina¬ 
tion of the flash with that of the sun. But as 
we stated before, we wanted “contrast,” and 
the best way to get it in this instance was to 
slightly overexpose the sunlight portions of 
the subject, and underexpose the flash- 
lighted portions. By opening up a half stop 
(about half way between f/11 and f/8) we 
were sure of overexposing the lightest areas, 
and by moving the flash back from six feet 
to nine feet we were equally sure of under¬ 
exposing the flash-lighted areas. (In this in¬ 
stance, f/8 would give us the same flash ex¬ 
posure at nine feet as f/11 at six feet. Since 
we used a half stop smaller than f/8 in the 
exposure, the flash portion of the picture was 
underexposed one-half stop.) 

But, you may ask, why all this seeming 
complexity? Why not take the shot in flat- 
lighted sunlight and be done with it? True, 
you could take such a shot in typical flat 
light, but you would have lost the strong 
modeling and the feeling of strong sunlight 
produced by the contrast. Further, few people 
can face a low sun without squinting or mak¬ 
ing a wry face. 

The two examples cited of the use of syn¬ 
chronized flash in sunlight are by no means 
rigid formulas for such use, but are presented 
as suggested starting points from which you 
can adapt the principles involved to color 
problems you encounter. 

Flush us Sole Light Source 

In such use of flash with Kodachrome one 
can very generally follow the same formulas 
as for work done with photofloods as a light 
source, with some exceptions. In the majority 
of color problems in which we use artificial 
light as a sole light source we can use either 
photoflash or photoflood, with equally good 
results. For the beginner in artificial light 
work, photoflood offers some advantages over 
photoflash in that one can experiment with 
placement and angle of lights, he can check 
each move with meter readings, and he has 
the satisfaction of seeing his subject, before 
he makes an exposure, about as he will see 


114 


KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


65 

Photoflash used as the sole light source, 
with lamps in reflectors as indicated in the 
diagram below. This is almost the identi¬ 
cal lighting arrangement used in making 
the shot shown in the Color Plate on page 
107 . 



N0.3 FLASH 
TWO FEET 
ABOVE FLOOR. 


NO. 3 FLASH 
SIX FEET 
ABOVE FLOOR. 


WALLS REFLECTED MUCH LIGHT 


66 


Diagram of the lighting arrange¬ 
ment used in making the picture 
shown at the right. 



it in the final Kodachrome result. This dis¬ 
advantage of photoflash, can be somewhat 
overcome if one makes his lighting arrange¬ 
ment with photofloods in the reflectors, and 
then replaces the photofloods with photoflash 
lamps (after pulling the plugs in the house 
light circuit), and then fires the flash. 

On the other side of the argument, photo¬ 
flash has the advantage of providing (or can 
provide) a greater volume of light, and since 
the flash exposure is, of necessity, short, you 
can stop movement or guard against the pos¬ 
sibility of movement. In portraiture, flash 
assures “open,” more natural eyes. 

In placing photoflash lamps for proper 
illumination, one can follow the rules for 
good lighting with photofloods. That applies 
to angle of lights only, for there is no rule of 
relationship as to comparative distance of 
lights to subject, when using photoflash in a 
photoflood lighting arrangement. Distance of 
lights to subjects is a matter of exposure cal¬ 


culation, based upon dependable exposure 
tables furnished by the photoflash lamp man¬ 
ufacturer. 

The illustration shown on this page (Fig¬ 
ure 65) shows the use of two front lights, 
neither of which was placed far enough from 
the camera axis to be called a side light. The 
diagram at the left (Figure 66) shows the 
position of the camera and lights in relation 
to each other and to the subject. 

Two Wabash No. 3 flash lamps were used, 
one at two feet from the floor, at the right of 
the camera, and the other at camera height, 
and to the left of the camera, as you will 
notice. The light at the right was more 
directly in line with the camera, but at a low 
angle to fill in eye and chin shadows that 
might he cast by the other light and by a 
certain amount of light reflected down from 
the ceiling. 

The exposure was made open and shut, the 
shutter set on bulb and held open while the 


115 









KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


flash was fired by a push-button switch wired 
to the battery box. As this was what would 
be designated as a “lighter than average” 
subject, the f/ stop used was one-half stop 
smaller than that called for by the lamp 
manufacturer’s data for two flash at the dis¬ 
tance lamps were set. We arrived at this de¬ 
duction of “lighter than average” because 
there were no dark colors in the composition 
that needed any special compensation; the 
figures were posed in the corner of a room 
that had light colored walls and ceiling, and 
oil painted walls at that, which meant that 
these surfaces would reflect a maximum 
amount of light on the subject, as well as 
“kicking” the light around with some re¬ 
sulting diffusion. 

The apparatus used for this shot was of the 
home-made variety and especially adaptable 
to indoor work because of its capacity. The 
outfit will permit the use of as many as eight 
outlets and twice that number of ordinary 
flash lamps, if one should ever wish to use 
such an abundance of light. The apparatus is 
described and illustrated later in this chapter. 

In using photoflash indoors, the same care 
must be exercised in placement of lights as 
one would use in photoflood work. And the 
same reflected unwanted color casts must be 
guarded against. In placing your subject in a 
room he sure that all reflected light will en¬ 
hance your color result, which means that 
the safest reflecting surfaces would be white 
or nearly white walls. When you are light¬ 
ing your subject with photofloods you have 
an opportunity to survey and appraise the 
effect of these reflected lights in arranging 
your composition and your lighting. It is a 
little more difficult to foresee some of these 
effects when using flash, so take a second look 
at all surroundings before you fire the flash. 

It should be mentioned that one can use 
either regular or daylight flash, indoors, with 
the proper film, and with equally good re¬ 
sults although there is a slight difference in 
color quality. For those Kodachrome enthusi¬ 
asts whose principal shooting is outdoors, it 
is a great convenience to be able to use day¬ 
light film indoors with daylight type photo¬ 
flash lamps. 

Follow rules for good lighting and a de¬ 
pendable table for exposures and you will 
have no difficulty in producing brilliant, color¬ 


ful Kodachromes indoors, with photoflash as 
sole light source. 

Flush ami Supplementary Light 

What we mean by using some existing illu¬ 
mination as a supplementary light source can 
best be explained by describing an actual 
problem involving such use in combination 
with photoflash. 

The reproduction on the opposite page, 
from a Kodachrome shot made in Lehman 
Caves National Monument, Nevada, shows 
this use (Figure 67). Photoflash was used, 
of course, as the principal light source, but 
the pictorial and color result were both very 
much dependent upon use of the Cave light¬ 
ing as supplementary light. 

This shot was made with open and shut 
shutter exposure, set on “Time,” with the flash 
fired by a battery box similar to that described 
on a following page. The exposure was based 
on the flash data, as to diaphragm stop and 
distance of lights to subject. This matter of 
distance was more of a problem than usual, 
as the formations were very open and the 
surfaces in the foreground were small in rela¬ 
tion to the total area of the composition. It 
was obvious that one could not expect much 
reflected light assistance, although the irregu¬ 
larity of the surface formations did break up 
and diffuse the light somewhat. There was 
the second problem of getting light into and 
onto areas beyond the immediate foreground. 

The final exposure deduction evaluated this 
subject as a night shot outdoors, where there 
are no surfaces to gather and reflect the light, 
and in which cases it is always advisable to 
use the next larger f/ stop than for same dis¬ 
tance of light to subject indoors. Obviously 
this exposure would tend to overexpose the 
immediate foreground hut one could afford to 
take that chance in order to give better ex¬ 
posure to the surfaces beyond the immediate 
foreground. The flash lamps were placed 
about 12 feet back from the figures and those 
formations in the same plane. Going back to 
the law which states that “light diminishes in 
intensity inversely as the square of the dis¬ 
tance,” we instantly calculate that surfaces 24 
feet from the flash would need four times the 
exposure of those 12 feet from the lights. Sur¬ 
faces 36 feet from the lights would need nine 
times the exposure. And some of the surfaces 


116 


KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


67 

A flash exposure com¬ 
bined with the indirect 
lighting in the cave. 
Foreground was lighted 
by flash only; the sur¬ 
faces beyond 25 feet got 
practically all their ex¬ 
posure from the lights 
in the cave. To register 
these surfaces required 
a three minute exposure. 



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shown in that shot were more than 36 feet 
from the flash lamps. 

With no light except that from the flash all 
surfaces beyond 18 to 20 feet would have gone 
as black shadows, unless, of course, a sufficient 
number of extra flash had been used to permit 
spotting them throughout the area of the 
composition and at a distance from each step- 
back to provide approximately even illumina¬ 
tion. To do that in this instance would have 
required no less than six photoflash lamps. 

The alternative was to make use of the 
available Cave lighting, as a supplementary 
light source. This lighting was very weak and 
indirect, but sufficient to register if given a 
long exposure. Obviously the models could 
not hold motionless for the several minutes 
necessary to register any appreciable effect 
from the Cave lights. 

The shot was made with two No. 75 (GE) 
photoflash lamps, on type B Kodachrome, 
with a 2A filter. The reflectors were wider 
angle than one would usually employ for 
close-up shots, to give better coverage. One 
flash was placed to the right of the camera, 
about 12 feet from the models. The other 
flash lamp was some 25 feet in front and to 


the left of the camera, hidden behind one of 
the formations. This light was so placed as 
to give some cross lighting as well as to carry 
into certain areas of the middle distance the 
other flash would not reach. 

After the flash was made (shutter still 
open), the lens was covered while the models 
moved out of range of the camera, and then 
the exposure was continued for three minutes, 
to register the Cave lighting. Fortunately 
none of this Cave light fell on any of the 
foreground formations, and the three minute 
exposure registered the distant areas and for¬ 
mations which the two flash lamps did not 
and could not reach. If this secondary ex¬ 
posure had not been made all areas and sur¬ 
faces beyond the effective carrying power of 
the flash would appear as black holes in the 
composition. As the result turned out, you 
will notice that some of the background got 
more exposure from the Cave lights (at three 
minutes) than did the foreground from the 
flash. Although the black and white repro¬ 
duction gives you no idea of the color rendi¬ 
tion in the Kodachrome, it does show very 
clearly just what effect both the flash and the 
Cave light had in producing the result. The 


117 






KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 



Multiple outlet battery box for simultaneous 
firing of up to six flash, on open and shut 
exposures. 


foreground formations have texture and mod¬ 
eling and they have none of the flat, flash 
look; the middle distance and background 
formations also have sufficient modeling and 
texture, and there are no objectionable shad¬ 
ows cast by foreground formations onto the 
ones behind them. 

This problem is distinctly an individual one 
that had to be analyzed in terms of the con¬ 
ditions encountered. Perhaps it is not indica¬ 
tive of a common use of flash and supplemen¬ 
tary light, but as every problem is different 
and must be appraised for what it is, you 
need only concern yourself with the same sim¬ 
ple steps any such lighting problems require. 

One adaptation of this flash and secondary 
light combination is in the use of house lights 
such as reading lamps, fireplace light, and so 
on. In such instances it is assumed that the 
secondary, or supplementary light is of low 
intensity—a 60 or 75 watt bulb in a table 
lamp, for example—and that this secondary 
light is placed where the flash has not already 
given the area more exposure than the sec¬ 
ondary light can register. In most such uses 
it is desirable to keep such secondary lights 
outside the picture for unless the bulb itself 
is hidden by a rather opaque shade you will 
register the lamp itself too strongly in relation 


to the areas the light from such a lamp is 
covering. 

Many other adaptations of this flash and 
supplementary or secondary light use offer 
opportunties for a variety of new and pleasant 
Kodachrome results. 

Multiple Outlet Buttery Bttx 

Those of you who do not have a flash gun 
and who do not care to invest in one for an 
occasional indoor shot with flash, will be 
especially interested in this device. This in¬ 
expensive battery box can be made by anyone 
who is handy with tools and who can follow 
a simple wiring diagram. 

The battery box illustrated (Figure 68) has 
six regular outlet plugs, the same as is used 
in outlet boxes for floor lamps. These are 
wired in parallel, with the circuit broken by 
one plug into which the push-button switch 
cord is plugged. To be sure of ample current 
if and when as many as eight No. 75 photo¬ 
flash lamps might he fired at one time, the 
power source should be a 45 volt radio bat¬ 
tery. If you expect to use less than eight No. 
75’s at maximum, or prefer to use smaller 
lamps, a 22% volt battery is sufficient. 

With a battery as current source, this box 
can be used anywhere you can make open 
and shut flash exposures. If you do not care 
for such flexibility, and expect to confine its 
use to indoor photography where you will 
always have an electrical circuit to plug into, 
you can dispense with the battery and fire the 
flash from the house current. If you want 
to make a dual purpose outlet box you can 
wire for both the battery and for house cur¬ 
rent use by interposing a switch so that you 
cut out the battery when box is plugged into 
house circuit or switched over to the battery 
when you depend upon it as source of current. 

Since this paraphernalia can be used only 
on open and shut flash exposures, we do not 
have to be concerned with lag due to kind or 
length of wire used in the extensions. 

A Few Suggestions 

In summarizing our considerations of this 
subject of Kodachrome and Photoflash, we 
should segregate the problems encountered 
into two general categories—(1) synchronized 
flash in sunlight, and (2) flash as the sole or 
principal light source. 


118 






KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


SOME SUGGESTED LIGHT PLACEMENTS FOR SYNCHRONIZED FLASH 




72 


Two flash on extension 
cord, for more choice of 
light placement 


73 


Flash on extension cord, 
used as a side, fill in light 



71 


Flash at camera and one on 
extension cord, for more 
coverage. 



74 


Flash on extension cord, to 
light background, or back¬ 
light subject 


The basic and apparent purpose of syn¬ 
chronized flash in sunlight is to illuminate 
shadow areas so they will be well within the 
exposure latitude of the Kodachrome film. 
If and when we bring the darker areas within 
the latitude of the film, we then base our ex¬ 
posure on the sunlit portions of the composi¬ 
tion, rather than upon a compromise between 
the lightest and darkest areas. If the flash is 
used properly and in sufficient volume, not 
only will it assist in getting a proper exposure 
of those areas covered by the flash, but you 
will more properly expose the fully sunlit 
areas because your exposure is based on them. 

When one considers the comparatively 
short latitude of Kodachrome film, this use 
of synchronized flash is imperative in a large 
percentage of closeup outdoor color shots if 
one wants the best possible results. 

The second general use of flash, as a sole 
or principal light source, hardly requires any 
elaboration. Whether you use photoflood or 
photoflash indoors is largely a matter of per¬ 
sonal preference except in certain cases where 


photoflash is more desirable because it pro¬ 
vides sufficient light volume for a short ex¬ 
posure. In outdoor shots at night or indoors 
when photofloods cannot be used (as in the 
Cave shot) there is no choice but photoflash. 

While on this subject of indoor flash work 
I suggest that pleasing effects can often be 
secured by using one flash lamp (when two 
or more are being used) in a home lighting 
fixture. If a flash lamp is placed in a table 
lamp, for instance, you must remember that 
the effective volume of light is greatly dissi¬ 
pated or scattered, as it is not being directed 
by a reflector which forces the light to go in 
one direction. However, this use of house fix¬ 
tures adds greatly to the feeling of “authen¬ 
ticity” and naturalness in light effect. 

One could go on ad infinitum on this sub¬ 
ject of photoflash, but the purpose of any 
such discussion should be to suggest ideas and 
basic procedures that stimulate your interest 
and imagination, and that give you the urge 
to create and develop your own techniques. 
It is learned best in the doing. 


119 

























KODACHROME AND PHOTOFLASH 


Observe these simple suggestions in your 
photoflash work: 

1. Be sure your batteries are fresh. 

2 . Use only efficient reflectors. 

3. Clean reflector surfaces before using. 

4. Use the appropriate size flash lamp. 

5. Use a lens shade, the deeper the better. 

6 . Do not overexpose indoor flash shots. 

7. Take care that reflectors are properly 

“aimed” at the areas you want the 
light to cover. 

8 . Avoid too much flat lighting. Use two or 

more flash lamps on night shots when 
you can—one as principal light source 
(imagine it is the sun) and the other 
lamp as a side light, to fill in shadow 
areas. 

9. In night flash shots outdoors, use one 

stop larger than for indoor shots 
(light is dissipated outdoors; is re¬ 
flected hack indoors). 

10. In synchronized flash work use shutter 
speeds of 1/25 of a second slower, and 
with camera on tripod. This recom¬ 
mendation applies only to color work. 


( There are exceptions, if you want to 
attempt fast action shots, hut Koda- 
chrome’s speed is too slow for much 
flexibility in such use, without special 
equipment). 

11. Check all wires and contacts to be sure 

the flash will fire when you press the 
button. If your shot requires large 
flash lamps or two or more of any size, 
it is advisable to fire a test flash with 
an inexpensive “peanut” lamp to be 
sure equipment is working properly. 

12. On indoor shots make effective use of 

walls and ceiling to reflect and diffuse 
the light hut avoid unwanted color 
casts that might he reflected back onto 
' your subject. 

13. Until you have developed better formu¬ 

las for your equipment, base your 
exposures on dependable exposure 
tables—those furnished by the photo¬ 
flash lamp manufacturer. 

14. Always use the blue, “daylight” type 

photoflash lamp in daylight or with 
daylight type Kodachrome indoors. 


Table for Lamp-to-Subject Distance for Synchronized Flash, used as Fill-in Light, in Sunlight 


If two flash lamps are used at separate positions, base calculation on lamp nearest subject 


DAYLIGHT TYPE KODACHROME 


SHUTTER SPEED 

Flash Lamp 

f/12.7 f/11 f/8 

f/5.6 

f/4.5 

f/3.5 

1/25 or slower—for 1/100 use 

2 No. 21B 

5 ft 6 ft 9 ft 

12 ft 

16 ft 

20 ft 

1 f/ stop larger or reduce 
lamp distance %—for 1/200, 

2 f/ stops larger or reduce 

1 No. 2B 

4 ft 5 ft 8 ft 

10 ft 

14 ft 

18 ft 

1 No. 3B 

6 ft 7 ft 11 ft 

15 ft 

20 ft 

25 ft 

lamp distance V& 

NOTE: No. 21B is a GE Lamp. No. 2B and 3B are 

Wabash Lamps. 


The above table (worked out for my own equipment), as well as all others for such use, can only suggest and recommend. Type 
of reflectors, the contrast range of the subject, the angle at which flash is placed—all these and many other factors influence results. 


Indoor Photoflash Table for Lamp-to-Subject Distance—The Flash as Sole Light Source 

If two or more flash lamps are used, base exposure calculations on lamp used as principal light source 


Artificial Light Type Kodachrome—Shutter Set on “Time'’ or “Bulb” 


TYPE “A” 

KODACHROME (35 mm. 

and Bantam) 

TYPE “B” 

KODACHROME 

(With 2A or CC15 filter) 

Flash Lamp 

at 6 ft 

at 9 ft 

at 12 ft 

at 18 ft 

Flash Lamp 

at 6 ft 

at 9 ft 

at 12 ft 

at 18 ft 

No. 11 (GE) 

f/16 

f/11 

f/8 

f/6.3 

No. 22 (GE) 

f/20 

f/12.7 

f/9 

f/6.3 

No. 50 (Wabash) 

f/12.7 

f/9 

f/6.3 

f/5 

No. 75 (GE) 

f/25 

f/18 

f/12.7 

f/9 

No. 3 (Wabash) 

f/20 

f/14 

f/10 

f/8 

No. 3 (Wabash) 

f/12.7 

f/9 

f/7 

f/4.5 


Daylight Type Kodachrome — Indoors—With Daylight (Blue) Flash 


35 MM. AND 

BANTAM SIZE 

KODACHROME 

CUT 

FILM 

KODACHROME 


Flash Lamp 

at 6 ft 

at 9 ft at 12 ft at 20 ft 

Flash Lamp 

at 6 ft 

at 9 ft 

at 12 ft 

at 20 ft 

No. 2B (Wabash) 

f/10 

f/7 

f/5 f/3.2 

No. 2B (W’abash) 

f/11 

f/8 

f/5.6 

f/3.5 

No. 3B (Wabash) 

f/14 

f/10 

f/7 f/4.5 

No. 3B (Wabash) 

f/16 

f/11 

f/8 

f/4.5 


Lamps must be used in efficient reflectors. The above distances and f/ stops are for “average” subjects. If subject is darker than 
average, open up stop; if lighter than average, close down % stop. (For more detailed information as to other available photo¬ 
flash lamps and their exposure data, check the lamp manufacturer’s latest data sheet.) 


120 

























CHAPTER 9 


REFLECTORS UNO DIFFUSERS 


A N EVER present problem in 
color photography, whether in 
Kodachrome or any other col¬ 
or medium, is that of excessive 
value contrast in the color sub¬ 
ject when the subject is illuminated only by 
one light source, as by the sun, or a front flash 
or photoflood light indoors. 

This value contrast is accentuated, in effect, 
in the Kodachrome result because the film 
does not have sufficient latitude to record, 
faithfully, the extremes of light and dark in 
the same composition, at any exposure that 
does justice to the main portion of the picture. 
This inability to hold detail and color in the 
highlights and shadows gives the Kodachrome 
a hard, contrasty appearance that is most dis¬ 
pleasing. If you will forget, for a moment, all 
about color and will analyze the Kodachrome 
purely from the standpoint of black and white 
standards, you will find that many of your 
color shots are not too good as color trans¬ 
parencies, and in terms of black and white 
tone value rendition they are still worse. 

This comparison will emphasize the neces¬ 
sity for shorter scale lighting on your Koda¬ 
chrome subjects, if you want to get better than 
average color results. It will serve to prove 
that one must adjust the lighting of his color 
subjects to the latitude or “capacity” of the 
Kodachrome film, for the film has no ability 
to make compensations for value extremes in 
your subjects. 

In the chapter on “Outdoor Exposure Cal¬ 
culations” we suggested that a good practical 
limit for Kodachrome exposure latitude is 
two and one-half (2*4) f/ stops. By that we 
mean the darkest darks in your composition 
should not call for more than 2*4 stops more 
exposure than your meter indicates should be 


a correct exposure for the lightest lights. In 
other words, if the black and white value or 
brightness range of your subject is more than 
2^4 stops, (a scale of 1-6) either the lightest 
or darkest values, or both, will he beyond the 
latitude of the Kodachrome film. (Figure 75.) 

You may ask, “Does it matter if shadow 
areas go black?” If you are at all critical it 
matters very considerably. There is a decided 
difference in overall color quality between the 
effect of a black object in your composition 
and a shadow area that goes black. True, they 
are both “black” in the Kodachrome. But in 
the case of the black object there will likely 
be some tone change to give at least a sugges¬ 
tion of form (unless the object is two-dimen¬ 
sional), if nothing more than a highlight. 
Even such meager tone variation gives the 


1 

SHOULD HAVE 
2 STOPS LESS -< 
EXPOSURE 


SHOULD HAVE 
1 STOP LESS 
EXPOSURE 


BASIC 

EXPOSURE 


SHOULD HAVE 
1 STOP MORE 
EXPOSURE 


SHOULD HAVE 
2 STOPS MORE 
EXPOSURE 


/ 



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75 


Graphic illustration of the efficient // stop 
latitude of Kodachrome film. 


121 

























REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS 


object some color interest, but one can hardly 
say that a black shadow area can ever appear 
as anything more than a distracting displeas¬ 
ing “void.” When such a shadow area is sur¬ 
rounded by or associated with color in the 
other areas of the composition, we keep trying 
to see color and detail in those shadow areas, 
for our brain tells us that there is color buried 
somewhere in that mass of black. 

If we get better color results when the 
values of our compositions are kept within a 
2l/ 2 stop range, how can we easily and most 
effectively control our lighting to create the 
needed shorter scale of values? 

Obviously we cannot “compress” both the 
light and dark extremes of the composition, 
to bring them into a value range closer to the 
“middle” values of the composition. Just as 
obviously we cannot “compress” the lightest 
values alone, for any device that would de¬ 
crease those values would lower all the values 
of the composition. 

But we can raise the value of the dark areas 
without disturbing the other, lighter values, 
and in so doing bring the extremes of light 
and dark closer together, and within the lati¬ 
tude limits of the Kodachrome film. 

Using Reflectors 

It is understood, of course, that all the pre¬ 
ceding discussion has to do with close-up com¬ 
positions, the limit of distance from camera 
to subject being not more than the limit of 
effectiveness of any device we may use to add 
light to shadow areas. The exception would 
be when we might use a reflector to light a 
foreground object in an expansive scene. 

We have already covered one phase of this 
use of “supplementary” light in the chapter 
on “Photoflash”—synchronized flash in sun¬ 
light. That is one way to raise the value level 
of dark or shadow areas, and it has many 
advantages to recommend its use. Its port¬ 
ability and flexibility in use are two very dis¬ 
tinct ones. But flash also has disadvantages. 
One is the cost of synchronizing equipment. 
Another is the cost of photoflash lamps. A 
third is that one cannot see beforehand just 
what effect the flash will have on the final 
result. There is no chance for meter readings, 
or experimenting with a variety of light place¬ 
ments. 


Efficient reflectors are, for the average ama¬ 
teur, a much preferred device for creating 
supplementary light. True, reflectors haven’t 
the portability of flash equipment, but if most 
of your color shooting is done around your 
own home, this is no serious handicap. In 
fact it is less trouble to set up a reflector than 
to get into action with flash equipment. 

Reflectors offer the opportunity to (1) ex¬ 
periment with placement for best light effect 
and (2) to check such placement with your 
light meter to reassure yourself that the re¬ 
flector is raising the darker or shadow area 
values sufficiently to be well within the limits 
of the exposure you propose to use. 

There is nothing mysterious about the use 
of a reflector. You simply place it in such 
position that it catches the direct rays from 
your light source, and at the same time reflects 
this gathered light into the areas you want 
lighter in value. 

You follow the general rules for placement 
that we have previously discussed in connec¬ 
tion with photoflood and photoflash when 
they are used as a supplementary light source. 
And somewhat the same general rules apply 
in regard to distance of supplementary light 
to subject. The closer the reflector is to the 
subject the more light it will pour into the 
shadow area; the farther away it is the less 
effect it will have, naturally. The type of re¬ 
flecting surface used also greatly influences 
the effectiveness of any supplementary light 
source. 

Reflectors in Sunlight 

Any efficient reflector will produce the 
greatest volume of reflected light, in full sun¬ 
light, when the reflector is set at or nearly at a 
right angle to the sun. There is a serious dis¬ 
sipation of reflected light when the reflector 
is used obliquely to the sun’s rays. But care 
should be taken not to place the reflector too 
far around on the shadow side. In general the 
reflector should not be at a greater angle than 
75° from the axis of the camera. 

As surprising as it may seem a reflector will 
be effective even when the sun is all but ob¬ 
scured by high fog or slight overcast. We are 
accustomed to consider “shadows” as some¬ 
thing cast in direct, full sunlight, and to think 
that there are no shadows in diffused light. 


122 


REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS 


76 

Showing the use of a re¬ 
flector to fill in shadow 
area on face and figure, 
to simulate the effect of 
light reflected from the 
ground. As a long focal 
length lens was being 
used, the picture framed 
only the girl and the 
horse’s head. 



However, if the diffused light is created by 
fog or overcast, there is a shadow side to 
every three dimensional object in your com¬ 
position. While it is true that diffused light 
shortens the value scale of any composition 
it does not create equal illumination on all 
sides of the objects in your subject. 

I mention this only because most of us have 
not developed a sufficiently keen perception 
for subtle or close-together values. 



Using a reflector close-up. This aluminum 
reflector returns a light volume, at close 
range, equal to full sunlight. 



Another reason for using reflectors in sun¬ 
light, entirely aside from the ostensible pur¬ 
pose of raising the value of the shadow areas, 
is to improve the color quality on the shadow 
side. The shadow side of any subject, is of 
course, opposite the source of light, and in 
consequence this shadow side is being affected 
by blue sky reflection (if the sky is clear), 
and by a preponderance of diffused blue light 
if the sky is overcast. 

One common mistake is to put the reflector 
too low and too close in on a figure with the 
result that the reflected light gives a “foot- 
light” effect on the face and figure. This is 
pleasing or otherwise, depending upon the 
effect you wish. But it is advisable to guard 
against such errors if you desire a feeling of 
“naturalness.” To get such feeling you should 
add only a sufficient amount of light to hold 
detail and color in the shadow areas, for you 
certainly want roundness and modeling for 
strength. 

Keep in mind that there are two basic uses 
of supplementary light. We can employ it (1) 
to create effects, one of them being the “foot- 
light” feel just mentioned, or (2) we use such 
a light source for the sole purpose of getting 
light into those areas not reached by our 
principal light source. This last use is, of 
course, the one that concerns us most. 

Before we forget about the possibility of 
special effects with reflectors, it might be well 
to enumerate a few simple adaptations of the 
idea. The “foot-light” effect is one. A variation 
(Continued on page 127) 


123 











MT. BAKER ACROSS BAKER LAKE, WASHINGTON 


As is obvious, this scene taxed the limit of Kodachrome’s latitude. The value or brightness 
range is extremely long, from the atmospherically diffused snow on the mountain to the dark 
value, light absorbent foliage in the foreground trees, most of which were not in full sunlight. 

In arriving at an exposure calculation, meter readings were made of all foreground areas 
and the water, with the meter shielded from sky influence. It was impossible to make readings 
of the distant areas, but a reading was made of the sky above the mountain, for as the sky was 
a darker value than the white snow, such sky reading was an assurance that the snow would 
tend to be overexposed even at an exposure based on a sky reading. 

Exposure was based on a reading of the water in the foreground, with the knowledge that 
the dark trees would be underexposed in any case except by an exposure that would be correct 
for them alone. Any more exposure than was used would have washed out the sky and the 
mountain. Fortunately, the mountain was sufficiently side-lighted to give it some form and 
surface texture. 

A Kodachrome filter was used to add a little “warmth” to this excessively “cool” scene. In 
fact, I generally employ such filter correction on subjects in which large areas of sky and water 
set the color mood, because Kodachrome has a tendency to accentuate blues in such expansive 
landscape scenes. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 5% inch Zeiss 
Tessar; Filter, Eastman CC13. The reproduction is 200 line deep etch four color offset lithog¬ 
raphy, plates made from the transparency. 


124 














REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS 


is to use a color reflector, or stretch a large 
piece of light-colored cellophane across the 
reflector so that the reflected light adds color 
to the areas it strikes. Suppose you want to 
emphasize the warm reflected light from a 
dry sand beach. A light straw colored cello¬ 
phane over the reflector will produce an ex¬ 
cessively warm glow on the planes of the 
subject upon which the reflector is focused. 
Your own imagination will suggest many other 
ideas for the unusual and pleasing in special 
effects with reflectors. 

All such experiments are easily performed 
and the results just as easily controlled, for 
you can study and alter the setup until you 
are completely satisfied, and you can check 
and recheck light readings with your meter, 
and know beforehand what the final result is 
going to be. 

Getting back to the more general use of 
reflectors. Figures 76 and 77 show the device 
employed at about the two extremes of dis¬ 
tance of reflector to subject. In Figure 76 at 
the top of the page the reflector was used at 
considerable distance because the shadow side 
of the face and figure was already partially 
lighted by light reflected from the ground, 
under a hot Arizona sun. In the other use 
illustrated, (Figure 77) the reflector was used 
very close to the subject because of the strong 
side light and equally strong shadow area. In 
addition there was no appreciable amount of 
light being reflected into the shadow area by 
any surrounding surface. 

There is no need to elaborate further on 
suggested uses of reflectors in sunlight. No 
tables could be devised for distances or angles 
because every reflecting surface is either more 
or less efficient than what might be called 
standard, and you need nothing more than 
a light meter and a little judgment in order 
to use any good reflector effectively, and with 
excellent color results. 

Reflectors and Artificial Light 

Because we are in the habit of associating 
reflectors with outdoor color work we are apt 
to lose sight of their adaptability for indoor 
use. In the chapters on “Photoflood” and 
“Photoflash” we touched upon the use of 
walls or other interior surfaces as a source of 
gome reflected light. While it is true that such 



to catch direct light from the photoflood. 

surfaces do kick-back and diffuse a consider¬ 
able volume of light, they are seldom ade¬ 
quate when we are using a front or nearly 
front single light source indoors. For one 
thing a wall is usually too far removed from 
your subject. You do not want to squeeze the 
subject into a corner just to get fuller use of 
light reflected from a wall, and for another, 
it is impossible to turn the wall to a better 
angle, and often undesirable to attempt to 
turn the subject to accommodate the angle of 
the wall. 

If you are using a single artificial light 
source and this single source is creating a dis¬ 
pleasing shadow area on the “off” side, you 
can quickly remedy the difficulty by setting 
a reflector at the proper angle to the light and 
subject. (Figure 78.) Get the reflector as close 
to the subject as possible and still keep it out 
of the picture. Sometimes such placement of 
the reflector kicks light back into the lens but 
this can be overcome by standing a floor 
screen or some other opaque “mask” between 
the camera and the reflector so that there is 
no possibility of any of the reflector’s light 
hitting the camera lens. If you have the re¬ 
flector out of the picture this screen can also 
be kept out of the view of the camera, of 
course. 


127 






REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS 


79 

A sketch of the roll-up reflector made from a window 
shade. Details in text. 

Personally I would not recommend the use 
of a reflector indoors when you are using flash 
as a sole light source, principally because you 
have no way of accurately predetermining 
where and how seriously this shadow problem 
may be. And most difficult of all, unless you 
are an expert at figuring angles, is the place¬ 
ment of a reflector so that it will both catch 
the flash and reflect that gathered light onto 
the subject. 

So much for the use of reflectors. This 
rather sketchy outline of suggestions is pre¬ 
sented primarily to assist you in watching for 
those things that one should avoid in the use 
of any supplementary light. 

Those of you interested in employing re¬ 
flectors in your Kodachrome work probably 
have your own ideas as to type of reflector to 
use, and there are many on the market that 
are highly efficient. You can buy flat reflectors 
that reflect quite a spread, or you can buy 
“reflector spotlights” that concentrate the 
light very much as do parabolic reflectors for 
artificial lights. Or perhaps you would like to 
make your own, which any one can do if he 
can saw a board or drive a nail. Two rather 
efficient homemade ones are shown on this 
page, and they both can be made in short 
order and with a minimum of expense and 
material. (Figures 79 and 80.) 

The first, a roll-up type, answers the prob¬ 
lem of portability. The reflecting surface is a 
40-inch white window shade of heavy cloth, 
one side of which was given a heavy coat of 
aluminum paint. By coating one side with 
aluminum or silver you have the choice of 
two surfaces. The shade roller is mounted in 
a 4-inch square box of a length to accommo¬ 



date the roller. The lid is two 2-inch strips, 
one hinged at one end of the box, the other 
at the opposite end, and these strips serve as 
supports for the drawn shade. The shade is 
held drawn by attaching to the wood stick in 
the shade a flat metal strip at either end, 
which extends about 2 inches beyond the 
wood stick ends. There is a ^-inch hole in 
the metal strips that slip over an “L” shaped 
screw in the ends of the boxtop strips. The 
tension of the shade roller spring keeps the 
shade taut and keeps the end fastenings from 
coming free. 

The reflector is always vertical when the 
box is set on floor or ground unless some 
means is provided for holding it at any angle 
desired. The gadget illustrated has supporting 
wood end pieces, with the top cut in an arc, 
using as center a hole 3 inches from the bot¬ 
tom of the end pieces. To support the box 
between these end pieces there is a %-inch 
bolt inserted through the box ends, from the 
inside, and the end pieces are held firm by a 
wing nut on this bolt. Then to provide adjust¬ 
ment for any angle, there is a series of metal 
loops evenly spaced and flush with the arc 
top of the end pieces, and a sliding bolt (small 
door bolt with knob handle) is attached to 
the boxtop side supports. You merely swing 
the reflector back into the angle you wish and 
drop the bolt into one of the metal loops. 

The other reflector illustrated is a simple 
wood frame of ^xl-inch material, 40"x40", 
to which is nailed a sheet of aluminum. Then 
for rigidity a second frame of the same *4x1- 
inch material is nailed on the back of the 
metal sheet, giving the reflector a lxl-inch 


80 



A rigid reflector — a sheet of aluminum in a wood 
frame. A heavy card covered with foil is equally 
efficient. 


128 






REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS 




82 

Same light an¬ 
gle, but with the 
light softened 
with a diffusing 
screen 



frame with the appearance of the metal being 
inset in the frame. To support the frame a 
“U” shaped frame of lxl-inch wood is attach¬ 
ed with wing nut bolts about two-thirds of the 
way up the sides of the main frame. This can 
be used as an easel back, to adjust the reflector 
to any angle. To keep the easel and frame 
from doing a “split” attach a small chain to 
the center of the frame and a small headless 
nail in the center of the easel bottom support 
allows feeding out any length of chain to ac¬ 
commodate the angle you wish. 

You will find either of these reflectors an 
indispensable aid once you start using one or 
the other as an adjunct to your Kodachrome 
technique. 

Creating Diffused Light 

We have several times referred to the de¬ 
sirability of “diffused” light for close-up color 
shots, especially those of people. We have 
mentioned that thin fog creates an ideal light 
for portrait studies. But we have not ad¬ 
vanced the suggestion that you can create a 
diffused light condition, and with very little 
effort. Even if the effort needed was consider¬ 
able, the results would more than justify any 
reasonable expenditure of time and money. 

Any diffusing device softens the hardness of 
direct, strong light. It also lowers the value 
of the lightest areas without appreciably 
lowering the values of the darker areas. In 
fact a diffusing device operates in reverse to 
that of a reflector. The principal difference 
between a diffuser and a reflector is that the 
diffuser scatters the light and in so doing 
softens the hard edges of shadow areas. A 
reflector does soften the shadows, but it can¬ 
not reduce the harsh effect of direct, strong 
light, nor subdue extreme highlights. 

Before we discuss the construction of de¬ 
vices for creating diffused light let us take a 
look at the results that can be secured with a 
diffusing screen, and with a diffusing screen 
used in combination with a reflector. Figures 
show (1) a side-lighted head study, in full 
sunlight, without use of diffuser or reflector 
(Figure 81); (2) the same study with the 
direct sunlight softened by a diffusing screen, 
but with no reflected light added to the shad¬ 
ow side (Figure 82) ; and (3) the same study 
again with both the diffusing screen and the 
reflector employed to bring the range of values 


129 








REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS 


as close together as possible without destroy¬ 
ing roundness and modeling. (Figure 83.) 

Fortunately this is one experiment that can 
be demonstrated in a black and white repro¬ 
duction more effectively than in color, for we 
are primarily concerned, for the moment, 
with a study of the control of light intensities 
or subject tone values. If tone values are kept 
within narrow limits and if the exposure is 
correctly made, good color quality inevitably 
follows. 

Study these three illustrations carefully, not 
to discover any technical excellence, for none 
is intended, hut for minute comparison of the 
effect of these light control devices on every 
area and plane of the study. 

If your forte is portrait or figure studies 
may I strongly recommend that you build or 



buy some paraphernalia for creating diffused 
sunlight conditions and thrill to a new experi¬ 
ence in your Kodachromes. 


Two Simple Diffusing Screens 

We have all seen the screens the portrait 
photographer uses to soften the harshness of 
his lights. We are talking about diffusing the 
light and not diffusing the image on the film. 

You can buy such screens, or you can buy 
the cloth and make a framework more suit¬ 
able to your needs, perhaps. Herewith are 
shown two types of diffusing screens, either of 
which most anyone can construct. 

The first shown (Figure 84) is a circular 
heavy wire frame to which has been sewed a 
wide piece of this diffusing cloth. A wood 
standard may be used if it is heavily weighted 
at the bottom. Figure 82 shows an inexpen¬ 
sive metal stand made to hold a diffusing 
screen, an opaque blockout screen or a light 
on an extension arm. You can buy a similar 
stand at any well stocked photographic supply 


house. If you make the entire structure you 
will be ingenious enough to work out your 
own ideas for adjustment of screen height 
and angle. 

The second type of diffusing device (Figure 
85) is a little more pretentious and is only 
needed if you prefer to include full figure or 
other sizeable subjects in your composition. 

This framework is patterned after the de¬ 
sign of a baseball backstop, and if you wish 
to cover the back as well as the top with dif¬ 
fusing cloth you will have still further control 
over light conditions as this sizeable device 
will block and diffuse all direct light. With 
the circular screen sometimes the strong light 
passing around it falls on surfaces that reflect 
light back on the subject that is unwanted and 
equally undesirable. 



These two suggestions for diffusing screens 
are offered as a starter for designs of your 
own, and perhaps better ones at that. 

The point of this chapter will have been 
missed if we have not registered the desir¬ 
ability and importance of short scale light 
conditions for superior color results. Although 
such light conditions are especially preferred 
for portrait studies because they help the ren¬ 
dition of subtle flesh tones, the idea of diffused 
light is applicable to any color problem 
wherein you want the most faithful registra¬ 
tion of all colors. In planning any color com¬ 
position to be photographed under diffused 
light, bear in mind the same rule we have 
repeated so many times—keep the composi¬ 
tion in “key,” high, low or middle, but in any 
event do not include extreme contrasts in 
value in the same composition. Neither dif¬ 
fused nor any other kind of light condition 
can provide a sufficiently even illumination 
so that both extremes of light and dark can 
be captured with fidelity in Kodachrome. 


130 


















CHAPTER 1 


LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


T HE old saw that “Everybody 
loves a lover” might be para¬ 
phrased with the even more 
truthful statement that “Every¬ 
body loves a landscape picture.” 
Landscape pictures have universal appeal and 
they speak a universally understood language. 

When we go on a vacation or travel tour we 
feel a compelling urge to take home a pic¬ 
torial record of those sights that impressed us 
when we are on the scene. We want those 
pictures to refresh our memories and to recall 
certain aspects of our original impressions 
that are easily forgotten without some visual 
reminder. We also want those pictures to help 
us share our enjoyment of the trip with our 
friends, and we know that words alone are 
sadly inadequate in conveying any mental 
picture of even the simplest scene. A picture 
does the job, for we all get more accurate and 
more lasting impressions through our eyes 
than we do through our ears. 

Photographs you make always give you 
more satisfaction than any picture you can 
buy. And surely you get greater pleasure 
from taking good pictures, than you do from 
pictures that have no interest in composition 
and less to recommend them from the stand¬ 
point of execution and technical skill. 

Now that you can capture, for your ever¬ 
lasting enjoyment, all the thrill of the color 
of a scene as well as its form, landscape pho¬ 
tography has really come into its own as a 
medium for the millions. But with this me¬ 
dium of Kodachrome your results are either 
very good or rather bad. No longer can you 
fall back on the old black and white explana¬ 
tion that “This shot didn’t turn out very well, 
but if it was a little more distinct you could 
see thus and so here and there.” A good Koda¬ 
chrome needs no verbal translation. A bad 
one is not even an “impression” of the subject. 


With Kodachrome our opportunities are 
multiplied tremendously, but so are the ne¬ 
cessities for care and thought in handling the 
medium. From my observations in contact 
with amateurs “on the scene” and all over the 
country I get the impression that too many of 
them have been sufficiently successful in their 
black and white work, to satisfy their uncriti¬ 
cal standards, without exercising much care 
and less judgment. This “success” has been 
achieved with so little effort that it has bred 
an attitude of nonchalance which they carry 
into their color work. Perhaps they have been 
lucky. If the quality of their negatives has 
been erratic to the extreme these workers con¬ 
sole themselves with the knowledge that they 
can compensate for poor negative quality 
through manipulation in printing. Such an 
attitude prompts a careless approach to the 
simple problem of negative exposure. 

If every black and white worker had been 
taught from the beginning that he must print 
every one of his negatives on the same grade 
of paper, with identical print exposure and 
development, he would have fixed in his mind 
the rigid limits within which he must work if 
he is going to produce Kodachrome pictures 
of a quality of which the film is capable. 

If you are shooting Kodachrome, when you 
click the shutter you are all done—done as 
far as making any alteration in the Koda¬ 
chrome transparency is concerned. In Koda¬ 
chrome work you must do your thinking be¬ 
fore you press the button. Real thinking in 
black and white work too often starts only 
after the developing, fixing and drying of the 
negative. 

This necessity for “before the exposure” 
thought and planning in Kodachrome photog¬ 
raphy is excellent discipline. If every begin¬ 
ner in photography started on color instead 
of black and white, seriously and with the 


131 


LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



86 

Boulder Dam. A diffi¬ 
cult subject under a 
clear sky and a bright 
desert sun. This shot 
made just after a rain, 
under a faint overcast 
sky. Such conditions 
gave the subject much 
more color saturation 
than it normally appears 
to have. 


necessary discipline of mind and action for 
good color results, when he did turn to black 
and white he would produce his picture on 
the film in the camera. We would see less of 
darkroom tricks practiced in an attempt to 
make good prints from had negatives. 

What is a proper approach to this subject 
of “Landscape Problems in Kodachrome?” 
We might generalize by the hour and still 
only arrive at a set of hypothetical solutions 
for a set of hypothetical problems. 

If I can be of any assistance in helping you 
analyze and appraise at least some of the 
varied conditions and problems encountered 
in landscape photography in Kodachrome, I 
can do it best by relating some of my own 
experiences in this field of color. Although 
black and white reproductions are a little 
short of being fully satisfying, they will serve 
as a “diagram” of the problem. Even though 
color is missing, these illustrations do convey 
the value range of the subject, the angle of 
light, and in some cases a suggestion of the 
character of the light. 

Boulder Dam 

While it is true that this subject (Figure 
86) has certain characteristics peculiar to it¬ 


self alone, the problem of recording the scene 
in Kodachrome involves many considerations 
common to all distant landscape subjects that 
are comprised principally of hard, highly 
reflective surfaces. 

Let us imagine for the moment that we are 
on the scene and that we are analyzing the 
subject in terms of (1) overall value (whether 
it is lighter or darker than average), (2) value 
contrast, (3) kind of color, (4) angle of light, 
(5) quality of the light, and (6) the factors 
on which to base an exposure. 

Overall Value. This is one case where one 
must distinguish between value and color. The 
rock walls of the canyon seem to he dark in 
color. They are dark red, dirty brown and 
related colors, and the distance is purple-blue. 
The water is extremely dark blue. Most of us 
are accustomed to think of such colors as 
being “dark,” and we forgot that they may be 
light in value and still be the same kind of 
color. 

But these surfaces are all highly reflective, 
and if compared in value with timbered hills 
at the same distance, these rock walls are 
much higher in value. This overall higher 
value would call for y 2 to % smaller f/ stop 


132 




LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


than would be given an average subject. And 
it should be mentioned that the angle of the 
camera was about that of the sun’s rays, be¬ 
cause of the elevation at which the shot was 
made. At such an angle the area up to the 
Dam was being seen in about the flatest possi¬ 
ble light. And that means maximum reflected 
light, and would indicate the use of about 
smaller stop, for that factor alone. 

Value Contrast. You can see from the re¬ 
production that there was a minimum of 
modeling on the formations. From the angle 
at which the shot was made one is obliged to 
work in either relatively flat light or a strong 
side light, for the character of the formations 
is such that the light effect changes quickly 
from a flat-light condition to one of full shad¬ 
ow on one side of the canyon, either morning 
or evening. When one or the other side of the 
canyon walls is in full shadow the scene is 
too contrasty. The shadow wall becomes a 
“hole” in the composition, and the opposite 
wall appears burned out, with a loss of texture 
in both walls. 

In this scene and others like it, we have to 
depend upon color contrast rather than value 
contrast. And fortunately we have such con¬ 
trast between the Dam and the canyon, the 
water and the distant mountains, and between 
the mountains and the sky. And in this in¬ 
stance this division of areas makes an inter¬ 
esting pattern. 

Kind of Color. The color of all areas is 
slightly more intense than one usually finds 
in such an expanse. And the fact that each 
color area is a rather large mass helps give a 
feeling of more color than is actually present. 

Quality of Light. The atmosphere was rela¬ 
tively clear, but with a more than average 
moisture content, which softened the light 
somewhat, and added some intensity to the 
color of the rock. Wet or moist rock always 
has more color than dry rock, as you know. 

Exposure. A rather accurate meter reading 
was possible because the distant sky was over¬ 
cast, and did not adversely affect a reading of 
the balance of the composition as a clear sky 
often does. A little study of the scene indi¬ 
cated that the most dramatic color effect could 
be secured through slight underexposure. If 
one overexposed the area up to the Dam that 
area would appear weak in both color and 
value — would be washed out. The distant 



efficient latitude of the film. 

mountains were somewhat darker in value 
than the foreground but slight underexposure 
would do them no serious damage. Certainly 
better to sacrifice the distance for the sake of 
the closer areas, if any sacrifice is necessary. 

Another reason for deliberately working to¬ 
ward underexposure was that we all seem to 
have a tendency to overexpose light value 
expansive landscapes. 

The exposure used as 1/10 at f/22 on 4x5 
Cut Kodachrome (rating Weston 10) . Trans¬ 
lated for 35 mm. and Movie, this would give 
a basic exposure of 1/50 at f/9 on 35 mm. 
and at f/11 on Movie Kodachrome, at 1/30 
second shutter speed. 

Filter. To add some color saturation to the 
rock formations a Harrison Coralite C^ filter 
was used. 

Taos Pueblo 

This subject is shown because it has one 
characteristic not encountered in the usual 
landscape scene. (Figure 87.) The difference 
is that a fair percentage of the composition 
is the pueblo roof top, which lies in a hori- 


133 



LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 





HI 





88 

San Xavier Mission, 
Tucson, Arizona. A 
scene with extreme con¬ 
trast that presented the 
problem of holding de¬ 
tail in the back-lighted 
wall without losing the 
fully lighted, white tow¬ 
ers. The result secured 
was possible because the 
wall in shadow was par¬ 
tially illuminated by 
light reflected from a 
clear north sky, and 
from the ground. 


zontal plane and at nearly right angles to the 
overhead sun. In such a situation the value 
contrast is high, for this flat plane reflects 
much more light than would a vertical wall 
against which the sun’s rays fell obliquely. 

In making the exposure three factors were 
considered: (1) the necessity for holding 
some color in this horizontal plane; (2) the 
advisability of holding detail and some color 
in the foreground shadow areas; and (3) the 
desire to darken the sky below normal, to 
provide color contrast with the adpbe and to 
hold as much detail as possible in the clouds. 

The compromise exposure decided upon 
was % stop smaller than for an average sub¬ 
ject. This exposure did darken the sky and 
as you see, held rather good cloud detail. The 
foreground shadow areas held no color hut 
did hold detail and they have a feeling of 
luminosity due to the reflected light from the 
roof surfaces. The roof areas held color, hut 
of lighter value than the eye “thought” it saw 
this area. There is no feeling that these areas 
are washed out in spite of the fact that they 
were *4 to 1 full stop overexposed. 

The exposure used, translated for the three 
films, was (basically) 1/50 at f/8 for 35 mm.; 
1/25 at f/12.7 for cut film; and f/10 for 
Movie. 


San Xavier Mission 

There are times when we are all tempted 
to press the latitude of Kodachrome to the 
limit of its ability. And such attempts are 
quite all right if we know what results to ex¬ 
pect. 

A glance at the subject above (Figure 88) 
indicates it is in that category, because of its 
extreme contrast range. But, fortunately, the 
back-lighted area is not a dead shadow be¬ 
cause of the light reflected into it from the 
hare, dry adobe earth foreground. If this fore¬ 
ground plane had been a grass lawn or other 
equally light absorbent surface, it would not 
have reflected any appreciable amount of 
light into the back-lighted wall. Under those 
circumstances and unless an exposure was 
made for the wall alone, this wall would have 
registered in the Kodachrome as a silhouette, 
devoid of both color and detail. 

This subject is shown primarily to empha¬ 
size that there are two kinds of back-lighted 
conditions. Ones that are dead shadows ex¬ 
cept for some sky reflection, and others that 
are made somewhat luminous through the 
influence of light reflected from surrounding 
surfaces. 

Exposure for a subject under the conditions 


134 


















LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



89 


Exposures for cloud effects alone should be 
based on meter readings of the sky. Let the 
foreground go as will. 


90 


Excellent subtle color results can be secured 
under weak, greatly diffused light conditions, 
as in this canyon. 


of this one should favor the sunlit portions 
of the composition — not the lightest lights, 
but the general area in sunshine. The back¬ 
lighted areas will be underexposed in any case 
unless the exposure is made for such areas 
only. A part of the effect of such a shot is the 
dramatic contrast between light and shade. 
The problem is to hold some color and detail 
in the back-lighted surfaces. The exposure did 
that, although the color on the wall was a 
cool blue cast from the sky. 

The exposure used was the same as for an 
average subject. If we had been exposing for 
the sunlit areas only the exposure should have 
been y 2 to % stop smaller. Such an exposure 
favored the light areas more than the dark 
ones, for an exposure for them alone would 
have called for about l l / 2 larger stop than for 
an average subject. 

Clouds Over the Desert 

Expansive cloud-filled skies often make 
dramatic Kodachrome shots. (Figure 89.) 
When clouds are a part of a landscape com¬ 
position our attention is so centered on the 


balance of the scene that we give little thought 
to what exposure we should use if we reversed 
the process and concentrated on the clouds 
and let the landscape come as would. 

If you enjoy clouds particularly, you have 
noticed they have a lot of color. There are 
blue clouds, gray ones, purple-blues, and over 
the great expanses of the Southwest the sky 
is frequently filled with pink-bottomed gigan¬ 
tic white clouds that are very dramatic. 

It is difficult to underexpose clouds in full 
sunshine (we are uot considering overcasts 
and such), so use 1 to 2 stops smaller dia¬ 
phragm opening than you would for an aver¬ 
age landscape in the same light, at the same 
angle. Or follow meter readings, which will 
serve well except when pointed directly to¬ 
ward the sun. In shooting back-lighted clouds 
you will have to use some judgment as some 
such clouds are dark and dramatic, others 
light and airy. 

Echo Canyon 

Color intensity is reduced as the volume of 
incident light is decreased, but that does not 



135 




LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 






91 

Mt. Moran across Jack- 
son Lake, Wyoming. A 
type of composition in 
which there is both good 
color and value separa¬ 
tion even in flat light. 


mean that there is no color in or under weak 
light, and quite often interesting color effects 
at that. You will grasp some idea of the char¬ 
acter of the light in which this shot was made 
when I tell you that it was about 1/5 that of 
normal sunlight volume in the open. (Fig. 90.) 

The scene is in the bottom of a narrow 
canyon whose rock walls are smooth and 
highly reflective, which greatly diffused such 
light as came into the canyon from the light 
overcast sky. 

The short value range of this subject is an 
ideal situation for color rendition in Koda- 
chrome. Of course the color would have been 
more intense if the volume of light had been 
greater. But on the other hand, direct, strong 
sunlight would create extremes in contrast 
that could not be held in Kodachrome. 

Exposure was based on a Weston reading of 
50. Light readings ran from 25 to 80 Weston. 
Translated for the three films, the exposure 
would be 1/25 at f/4.5 on 35 mm.; 1/10 at 
f/8 on cut film; and at f/4 for movie film at 
1/30 second, or f/5.6 at half speed. 

Mt. Moran 

We have mentioned several times in these 
pages that flat light produces the most bril¬ 


liant color, or the greatest color saturation, 
with the exception of transmitted light 
through translucent substances, of course. 
Sometimes color contrasts provide all the 
separation necessary between planes and 
areas. The above subject (Figure 91) is an 
excellent example of the kind of composition 
where flat light is preferred. There is good 
color and value contrast even though the scene 
is made up, primarily, of related rather than 
contrasting colors—blues, greens and the blue- 
gray of the mountains. 

The dark green trees in the foreground 
against the grayer tone of the distance give a 
pleasant feeling of depth to the picture, still 
more pronounced when you view the Koda¬ 
chrome. Other adjacent areas have either 
color or value contrast to give sufficient sepa¬ 
ration. 

One excuse for taking this scene in side 
light might be when the mountains were com¬ 
pletely blanketed in snow, and a side light 
could provide modeling to give form to the 
mountains. 

The exposure was based on a Weston read¬ 
ing of 320, a little on the underexposed side, 
to hold detail in the mountains. This calls 
for a basic exposure of 1/50 at f/8 on 35 mm.; 
1/25 at f/12.7 on cut film; and f/10 on movie 


136 




LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


Kodachrome. The shot was actually made at 
1/5 second, stop f/29, on cut film. 

As a general rule, Kodachromes of such 
scenes as the one we are describing—subjects 
made up of blues and greens—have an ex¬ 
cessively blue cast. We have mentioned be¬ 
fore that Kodachrome “likes” blue haze, and 
on the slightest pretext will seemingly disre¬ 
gard its duty to all other colors in the com¬ 
position while it concentrates on registering 
this haze with a vengeance. 

That is just one of the problems of Koda¬ 
chrome landscape shooting. A weak, warm 
correction filter will often overcome most or 
all of this blue cast, but such filters should 
be used with some discretion. There was no 
need for a filter on this shot because it was 
made rather early in the morning, when the 
light is “warmer” than in the middle of the 
day. Besides, the atmosphere is clearer in 
most mountain country early in the day and 
before the sun starts to pull moisture into the 
air. 

If you do use a correction filter to counter¬ 
act this blue cast tendency do not expect the 
filter to penetrate the haze and record any 
more detail than your eye sees. Should you 
wish to use filters for the purpose mentioned 
I suggest the Harrison Coralite C% or East¬ 
man’s CC13 or CC15. Filters stronger than 
these are likely to produce a cast of the filter 
color in the Kodachrome, which in many cases 
is more objectionable than the blue cast you 
are trying to eliminate. You need not make 
any exposure compensation for the three fil¬ 
ters listed. The Eastman filters have no factor, 
and the factor for the Harrison is so small that 
it can safely be disregarded. 

Wheat Field 

As a contrast to the Mt. Moran shot few 
subjects could better illustrate the type of 
thing that requires any kind of light but flat 
light (Figure 92). Here is color against its 
own color—wheat shocks against a back¬ 
ground of wheat stubble. One could hardly 
find less color contrast. While it is true that 
there is plenty of color contrast between the 
total area of the wheat field (viewed as a 
mass) against the trees and green hills, that 
does not solve the problem of holding form 
in the wheat field. 

The necessity for strong side light on this 



Many light-colored subjects such as this re¬ 
require side or modeling light to give 
strength. 


scene seems too obvious to need mention. 
There might be some difference of opinion as 
to a choice between side- and hack-light, hut 
in back-light the hills would be in full shadow 
and the sky would be burned out because we 
would be shooting at the source of the light. 

Since the foreground shadow areas are such 
a relatively small portion of the composition 
and since the stronger they are the more 
strength they add, they were disregarded in 
making exposure calculations. 

Printed reproductions do not convey much 
of an idea of the volume of the incident light 
under which the shot was made. Probably 
your first thought is that this wheat field 
should be considered as a much lighter than 
average subject. It should be, and under a 
brilliant sun and a cloudless sky the subject 
would call for at least 1 full stop less ex¬ 
posure than if the foreground field was green, 
growing wheat instead of the brilliant straw 
color. But this scene was photographed about 
one-half hour before sundown (when the light, 
is losing its intensity), and the volume of light 
was further reduced by a slight haze over the 
sun. 

There is one aspect of this Wheat Field 
composition that might be mentioned in pass¬ 
ing. It is the extreme difference in light re¬ 
flective quality between the wheat straw and 
the green grass on the hills. It is partly a 
matter of surface texture, as we discussed in 
an early chapter. The point that should be 
made is that although there is excellent color 


137 




LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



in flat light. 

contrast between the yellow of the straw and 
the green of the grass, that contrast is greatly 
accentuated because the straw surface texture 
is highly reflective and the texture of the grass 
(in the aggregate and not in terms of indi¬ 
vidual blades) is highly light absorbent. If 
you can imagine the straw as green in color, 
there would still be a considerable contrast in 
value between the wheat field and the hills. 

I am merely trying to emphasize again that 
we must not presuppose that color alone is 
the determining factor in making an area 
seem light or dark. It is a mistake to assume 
that all yellows are light and that all greens 
are dark, for instance, and a still greater mis¬ 
take to develop any kind of exposure formula 
based on any such assumption. It is the black 
and white value of an area that determines 
exposure, which is another way of saying how 
much light is being reflected back to the 
camera lens from such area. 

The texture of an object or surface often 
has more to do with this matter of value than 
does the color of the thing. 

Exposure data on this shot means nothing 
unless you recall that it was made in a weak 
light, or should we say, weaker than normal. 
The fact that it is a light value subject (the 
exposure used favored the wheat field) taken 
in weak light further complicates any attempt 
to compare this exposure with some of your 
own experiences. 

The exposure was made on cut Koda- 
chrome, y 2 second at stop f/32. That is equiv¬ 
alent to 1/50 at f/5.6 on 35 mm., or at f/7 on 


movie film. If the straw had been green grass, 
for instance, the exposures should have been 
1 stop larger, in the same light, or f/22, f/4 
and f/5 respectively. 

Ranchos de Taos Mission 

If the foregoing illustration did not suffi¬ 
ciently sell you on the advisability (if you feel 
“necessity” is too emphatic) of using side 
light on certain types of subjects, this old 
Mission shot may add weight to the argument. 

Here we have a situation that in some re¬ 
spects is more extreme than that encountered 
in the wheat field shot. There is absolutely 
no color contrast between anything in this 
composition except that of the sky and build¬ 
ing. (Figure 93.) The building and the sur¬ 
rounding walls “grow” out of the ground, and 
they are the same substance and texture be¬ 
cause the building and walls are made of the 
same adobe earth as the ground upon which 
they sit. 

Even though this illustration is merely a 
color snapshot, it does prove rather conclu¬ 
sively that side-lighting is imperative if we 
are to preserve any semblance of form or 
change of planes. This type of subject has 
one advantage over the wheat field in that 
light reflected from the ground helps greatly 
in keeping down value contrast, as well as 
helping to hold color and detail in the shadow 
areas. And we might mention that this ability 
to hold detail in luminous shadows is not just 
because the value of the area has been raised 
through reflected light, but because the re¬ 
flected light is in itself a light source and it 
casts texture shadows within the main shadow, 
subtle though they may be. 

This shot was made in bright sunshine. The 
flat-lighted surfaces gave a meter reading of 
Weston 800, the shadow side 250 (high be¬ 
cause of strong reflected light). The exposure 
was based on Weston 500, which would give 
basic exposures of 1/50 at f/10 for 35 mm.; 
1/50 at f/11 for cut film; and at f/12.7 for 
movie Kodachrome. 

Shooting in the Woods 

These two illustrations are reproductions 
of some test shots, made to determine the best 
light condition for color shooting in one of 
groves of the giant Sequoias, in the Sierra 


138 


LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



94 


Light in heavy timber, under a bright sun, is 
excessively contrasty, and no exposure will 
hold good color in both extremes of light and 
dark. 



closeup objects. A color correction filter will 
balance the color quality of the light. 


Nevada Mountains. These two are from sev¬ 
eral made under varying conditions. The 
illustration at the left (Figure 94) is the most 
extreme in contrast, and was shot in bright 
sunshine during the middle of the day. Un¬ 
fortunately the black and white does not suffi¬ 
ciently express the total failure of the Koda- 
chrome to hold detail or color in either the 
light or dark areas. 

As you can imagine, the tree trunks are 
practically black, and the green foliage in the 
light is all but colorless—completely burned 
out. As is obvious from the reproduction, 
each area is either all light or all dark, and 
there are few in between values. There isn’t 
much that can be said about such a condition 
except that it is one of those situations where 
one should never waste Kodachrome film, 
especially since a good black and white nega¬ 
tive will produce a much more satisfying 
picture. The one exception might be a close- 
up shot of a figure against one of the tree 
trunks that seemed to be in modified diffused 
light. An exposure made for that local area 


could be quite satisfactory although the colors 
would not he as intense as you expect. 

The reproduction on the right (Figure 95) 
shows a light condition at the other extreme. 
This shot was made in fog light, the fog so 
low it was dragging the tree tops. In this soft 
diffused light the Kodachrome recorded ex¬ 
cellent detail and bark texture, and with the 
assistance of a CC15 filter gave full saturation 
and faithful rendition to the tree trunk color, 
which is about that of new saddle leather. 
The filter overcame the fog light blue cast in 
the red of the trees but it wasn’t strong enough 
to prevent the green foliage from being more 
blue-green than it normally appears in direct 
sunlight. 

There would be no point in giving exposure 
data on these two shots in the woods for no 
two conditions would be the same, and the 
only safe procedure would be to follow care¬ 
fully made meter readings of all important 
areas in the composition. 

It might be mentioned here that the use of 
a Wratten No. 1 filter is sometimes recom- 


139 












LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



mended for overcast light conditions, and a 
Wratten 2A for extreme conditions. It is 
claimed that they add a “feeling of sunlight” 
to the scene. My experience with them has 
been rather unsatisfactory as they give the 
Kodachrome a cast of the filter color, which 
the Cy 2 and CC13 or CC15 filters do not do. 
After some experimentation you may develop 
a preference for the Wratten filters, for they 
do add something to the Kodachrome result. 

The Swimming Pool 

This composition (Figure 96) has one char¬ 
acteristic in common with the Taos Pueblo 
picture we discussed a few pages back. That 
one thing is that a considerable portion of the 
total area of the composition is in a horizontal 
plane, and at right angles to the almost di¬ 
rectly overhead sun. 

In this pool shot the horizontal plane is a 
more reflective surface than that in the Taos 
illustration, and since this area occupies better 
than half the total area of the composition, 
since it is the foreground, it must be given 
first consideration in determining exposure. 

There is nothing unusual about this prob¬ 
lem of good exposure of water, especially if 
you check light conditions with a meter. But 


96 

Roman Plunge, Del 
Monte, California. This 
scene is in full, flat 
light. When there is 
good color separation 
between the principal 
areas, flat light is prefer¬ 
able as it produces the 
most brilliant color. 

one should not fall into a habit of assuming 
that all water in bright sunshine calls for the 
same exposure. It depends upon the depth 
of the water, the color and texture of the walls 
and bottom of the pool (or the banks and 
bottom of a little creek, for that matter), the 
angle at which light is hitting the water, 
whether the water was rough or still, and to 
what extent surrounding objects or surfaces 
are being reflected in the water. 

While we are talking about water we might 
explode a common fallacy. Water itself is not 
necessary blue or green or white. I have heard 
numberless expressions of disappointment in 
Kodachrome shots of little lakes that lie at 
the foot of a cliff or mountain, because the 
water did not register blue. It has taken much 
unnecessary explaining to point out that the 
“brown” water of the lake is the reflection 
of the cliff or mountain, and still the fact was 
not freely accepted as a fact. Blue water is 
blue because it reflects the sky; gray water is 
gray under a heavy overcast sky because the 
sky is gray. And the white water of a rapids 
is white because it is broken into so many 
facets that it reflects only the incident light. 

If you will examine the structure across the 
pool, in the above illustration, you will ob- 


140 






LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


97 

Columbia River Gorge. 
More strength and great¬ 
er color saturation is se¬ 
cured in such expansive 
scenes just after a rain 
when surfaces are damp 
and the atmosphere is 
washed clean. 



serve that the light under the roof is a mixture 
of diffused and reflected light, very much the 
same in character as we created in the demon¬ 
stration in the preceding chapter, with the 
combination of a diffusing screen and a re¬ 
flector. 

In this instance the direct sunlight is dif¬ 
fused by a rough texture glass roof, and is 
reflected by the tile floor in front of the 
building. No use was made of this excellent 
light condition in this shot except that it made 
possible a better rendition of color and detail 
within the structure. If the roof had been 
opaque the interior walls would have regis¬ 
tered a solid black except for whatever re¬ 
flected light was cast on the lower portion of 
the walls. 

I mention this light condition again only to 
suggest that you be on the alert for every 
opportunity to utilize reflected and/or dif¬ 
fused light in any part of a composition in 
outdoor work, whenever and wherever you 
find it. 

The exposure for this swimming pool shot 
was based entirely on a meter reading of the 
water and foreground area surrounding the 
pool. This average reading was Weston 500, 
and the exposure based on this gave faithful 
polor and value rendition for all the compo¬ 


sition except the trees, which were under¬ 
exposed about iy 2 stops. But while this under¬ 
exposure lost the true color of the trees it 
lowered their value and made the rest of the 
composition seem more brilliant and more 
sunny by comparison. Basic exposures for 
Weston 500 would be 1/50 at f/10 for 35 mm.; 
1/10 at f/25 for cut film; and f/12.7 for movie 
Kodachrome. 

Columbia River 

This subject is a good example of those ex¬ 
pansive scenes that depend for successful re¬ 
sults in Kodachrome more upon light and 
atmospheric conditions than upon your own 
technical ability. (Figure 97.) In other words 
the most expert of color photographers cannot 
produce a good Kodachrome of such subjects 
when conditions are unfavorable, and they 
are likely to be unfavorable more of the time 
than otherwise. 

By way of explanation, and as we have men¬ 
tioned before, excess moisture in the air cre¬ 
ates a “screen” or film of haze that Koda¬ 
chrome will not penetrate. The result is the 
Kodachrome “blue haze” you have objected 
to in some of your shots. There is really no 
solution to the problem except the use of one 
(Continued on page 145) 


141 



THE GRAND CANYON 




Probably no subject has been considered by so many people as being photographically 
impossible as has this one. I have never set up my camera at the Grand Canyon without being 
advised by one to a half dozen well-intentioned admonishers that I was wasting my film. The 
advice is both right and wrong. There are days when atmospheric haze defies all attempts at 
penetration except with infrared film and filters. 

There are, however, conditions that are just as favorable as the others are disastrous. This 
is one type of subject that depends upon ideal atmospheric conditions for best results in both 
good definition and faithful rendition of color. More often one can secure dramatic color effects 
of the Canyon, but they are just that, and at the sacrifice of definition and true local color. 

The shot illustrated here was made about 7:30 a. m., after a two-day downpour of rain. 
At 6 o’clock the clouds shown on the horizon were down in the Canyon. As the sun warmed 
the upper air these clouds lifted en masse and the exposure was made just as they reached 
the level of the far rim, some thirteen miles distant. The early morning sun added some red to 
the Canyon color, but not an excessive amount, and with no more effect of intense color than 
the formations appear to have under the ideal conditions of damp surfaces and unusually clear, 
clean air. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 5% inch Zeiss 
Tessar. The reproduction is 200 line deep etch, four color offset lithography, plates made direct 
from the transparency. 



















































































































































■ 


















LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


98 

Garden of the Gods, 
Colorado. A typical 
light-colored subject 
that requires some side¬ 
lighting for foreground 
strength. Reflected light 
in the shadow areas 
made them luminous 
and preserved the color 
in those shadows. 



of the warm correction filters to counteract the 
blue cast, but as we have stated before, the 
filter will not appreciably cut through the 
haze and register distant detail. 

This shot was made on one of those very 
favorable days and the Kodachrome did hold 
the distance as well as one could expect, as 
you will realize when you are told that the 
distant horizon is some eighteen to twenty 
miles away. Even though the atmosphere was 
especially clear for this territory, the shot was 
made through a Harrison Coralite Cy 2 filter, 
to offset such blue haze as was present, and 
it is always with us in more or less degree, in 
any outdoor expanse such as this subject illus¬ 
trates. 

Some use was made of cloud shadows, to 
strengthen and to give separation to some of 
the river bank cliffs. I might add the admoni¬ 
tion that these effects are worth waiting for, 
and the serious color worker will be glad to 
wait for the proper shift of light and shadow, 
for best effects. 

The exposure was made on cut Kodachrome 
at 1/10 at f/20 with C*4 filter. Translated for 
35 mm. this would be 1/50 at f/8 or at f/10 
for movie. No exposure compensation was 
made for the filter. 


Garden of the Gods 

Again we present the suggestion, and some 
supporting evidence, that it is unwise to 
blindly follow a “flat-light technique.” This 
subject (Figure 98) has excellent color sepa¬ 
ration, in that the immediate foreground rock 
is very light in color; the vertical rock forma¬ 
tions are strong reddish-brown; and the dis¬ 
tance is purple-blue against a sky of clean 
white and vivid blue, as Colorado skies can be. 

But straight flat light would have resulted 
in a “back-drop” effect and the vertical rocks 
would have had no texture or solidity. Color 
separation alone, as effective as it was in this 
instance, is not enough. We also need some 
modeling and the side-light used was perfectly 
safe, for such shadows as there were on the 
rocks at the left were extremely luminous, due 
to reflected light, and there was no loss of 
color in these shadows. It was only lower in 
value, but was still good, clean color. 

This subject presents an entirely different 
problem in the choice between flat and side¬ 
light than that found in either the Swimming 
Pool or Columbia River shots. Flat light was 
used on the Swimming Pool because color 
separation was sufficient, plus tbe fact that 
there was no foreground form or texture that 


145 



LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



could be improved by side light. In the Co¬ 
lumbia River shot there is a little side-light¬ 
ing, but one would classify this as incidental. 
And flat light does penetrate the haze more 
than right angle side-light and, of course, 
much more than does back-light, even though 
the sun is only slightly in front of the camera. 

The basic exposure for this Garden of the 
Gods shot was 1/50 at f/9 for 35 mm.; 1/5 at 
f/32 for cut film; and at f/11 for movie. This 
slightly overexposed the white foreground, 
and slightly underexposed the rock formation 
on the left. 

Laguna Beach 

Ordinarily it may be advisable to confine 
the time of your color shooting to the middle 
hours of the day, but there are exceptions to 
any such rule. The subject illustrated (Figure 
99) demanded a low sun for best effect with 
the elements that are the theme of the com¬ 
position. 

The intense color of the composition is in 
the umbrellas. Their intensity is increased by 
the sun’s rays hitting them at about the same 
angle as the line from camera to the um¬ 
brellas. Also, it was important to get as much 
light into the underside of the umbrellas as 


99 

Laguna Beach. A low 
sun, slightly to one side, 
created foreground shad¬ 
ows that defined planes 
and gave this area some 
value contrast that help¬ 
ed pull it forward from 
the flat-lighted, low-con¬ 
trast distance. 

possible. And most important, the figures at 
the table must be kept in full light, which 
could not be done with an overhead sun. Re¬ 
flectors or flash would not serve adequately as 
they would be too far removed from the fig¬ 
ures when they were kept outside the picture, 
which of course they would have to be. 

Sometimes long shadows are objectionable, 
but in this case they give direction to the 
plane which is the patio floor, and add a feel¬ 
ing of strength and solidity that would other¬ 
wise be lacking. Since these shadows do not 
fall across nor destroy any important detail 
their presence does not detract from the final 
result, either in color or composition. Further 
the strong contrast in the foreground helps 
separate the foreground area from the distant 
spotting of buildings. From a purely pictorial 
standpoint I would prefer bare hills for the 
background rather than as is, but such things 
are not always within one’s control. 

This shot was made about 4 o’clock, under 
a September sun. Exposure was based on a 
“compromise” Weston reading of 320. No 
filter was used, of course, because they are 
seldom advisable on closeup shots in full sun, 
and certainly one would not use one of the 
warm ones as the light would tend to be 
warmer at 4 o’clock than at noon, but still 


146 





LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


100 

Mt. Rainier, Washing¬ 
ton. Another instance in 
which the principal 
areas have good color 
contrast, which permit¬ 
ted the use of flat light. 
Not all this color sepa¬ 
ration in areas is appar¬ 
ent in the black and 
white reproduction. 



not sufficiently on the “reddish” side to war¬ 
rant the use of a cool correction filter. 

Mt. Rainier 

This type of subject is proof again that no 
general rule fits all situations. (Figure 100.) 
Ordinarily side lighting will add a feeling of 
depth and distance to such scenes, and just as 
usually the side lighting will add interest to 
the forms in the composition. But this sub¬ 
ject, as reproduced, is one of those exceptions 
wherein flat light produces the best result. 

If you can visualize the color, as I attempt 
to translate it, we can prove our point, I am 
sure. The foreground bush against which the 
figure is placed is brilliant fall foliage color. 
The water reflects the deep blue of a clear 
sky. The little hill beyond the water is the 
greenish brown of autumn grass. The row of 
trees just beyond is very dark warm green, 
and the mountain ridge is a rich blue purple. 
The white mountain top is silhouetted against 
a strong blue sky. The only element in the 
composition that could be improved with side 
lighting is the snow-capped mountain, but it 
is such a small element in the composition 
that it is just as effective in the flat light. The 
distant mountain is about fifteen miles airline. 

However, one is faced with a different situa¬ 


tion when photographing this mountain from 
near its base, as I have done many times, for 
then one is close enough to hold texture in the 
glaciers and snow covered promontories if 
side light is used. In flat light, close up, the 
mountain looks too much like a white card 
cutout. And, too, haze is not a factor when 
one is working close. 

Ordinarily I would suggest the use of one 
of the weak warm correction filters on Koda- 
chrome shots made at this altitude and higher. 
The foreground in this picture is at about 
5,500 feet elevation; the dark mountain range 
is 8,000 to 9,000 feet, and Mt. Rainier is over 
14,000. But several factors argued against the 
use of any filter. First, the atmosphere was 
exceptionally clear, and there was no visible 
evidence of an objectionable amount of blue 
haze. Second, the immediate foreground was 
all warm in color—yellows, reds and browns— 
and the warm correction filters tend to de¬ 
grade the purity of such colors when photo¬ 
graphed close-up. Third, none of the other 
color areas in the composition could be im¬ 
proved in color quality through the use of a 
filter, and there was the possibility that such 
a filter might darken an already dark blue 
sky. Remember that skies appear a darker 
and more intense blue at high altitudes and in 


147 



LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


101 

Fisherman’s Wharf, San 
Francisco. A happy com¬ 
bination of brilliant col¬ 
or and highly reflective 
surfaces, all in the same 
general “key” or value 
range. A type of short 
scale composition ideal 
for Kodachrome or any 
other color medium. 





addition we are here shooting into the sky 
much above a “normal” horizon. 

The actual exposure used was 1/5 at f/29, 
on cut film Kodachrome, based on a “com¬ 
promise” Weston reading of 320. This is the 
equivalent to 1/50 at f/8 on 35 mm. or at f/10 
on movie Kodachrome. This exposure sacri¬ 
ficed some detail in the snow-capped moun¬ 
tain, but it proved a good compromise for all 
other areas in the composition except the dark 
green foliage of the foreground tree, which 
would have required about 1% larger stop for 
good color. Since the principal function of 
this foliage was to give mass and value con¬ 
trast with an already dark sky, it would not 
have been advisable to expose for this tree 
foliage to the detriment of everything else in 
the picture, and more particularly to the sac¬ 
rifice of the rich fall color in the foreground 
and to a further “wash out” of the snow¬ 
capped mountain. 

Fisherman’s Wharf 

Seldom are we so fortunate as to find an 
outdoor composition of short value range, 
with still enough color and value contrast to 
provide interest and good color. An expanse 
of desert sand may be a short range composi¬ 
tion but not necessarily a good color subject. 


The above reproduction (Figure 101) of 
this famous old fishing-boat harbor in San 
Francisco lacks the sparkle and color of the 
Kodachrome transparency from which it was 
made, but it should convey the fact that the 
whole composition is surcharged with light. 
Bathed in brilliant overhead sunlight, every 
surface and plane picks up and reflects this 
strong light onto surrounding surfaces and 
objects—into and onto surfaces turned away 
from the source of the light. In fact this re¬ 
flected light, multiplied and amplified by the 
excellent reflective quality of a hundred sur¬ 
faces, reaches every spot in the composition 
except the deep shadows of cabin interiors. 

And what is equally important, this com¬ 
position is all in one “key”—high key—which 
makes the problem of exposure and faithful 
rendition of all colors and values extremely 
simple. We have mentioned before that be¬ 
cause of the short latitude of Kodachrome 
film we always get true fidelity in all colors in 
a composition when all colors are within a 
certain limited value range, or key, it matters 
little whether the key be high or low. 

Water shots are, as a general thing, excel¬ 
lent subjects for Kodachrome if full use is 
made of the reflective quality of the water. 


148 









LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


102 

Zion Canyon Nat’l Park, 
Utah. An example of the 
use of cloud shadows to 
define shapes and to sep¬ 
arate planes. Without 
such shadows this scene 
is two-dimensional in 
flat light. 



There can be exceptions, of course, but they 
are rather rare. 

There is little point in giving any specific 
exposure data on such a subject because one 
does not have to arrive at a carefully calcu¬ 
lated “compromise,” inasmuch as there are 
no extremes in value. The composition is, 
obviously, a “lighter than average” subject 
and calls for about % stop less exposure than 
one would give an “average” subject under 
the same light conditions. 

Zf on Canyon 

By way of preliminary, if you will study the 
reproduction of this shot for a moment you 
grasp the immensity of the area included in 
the picture. The winding road, wide enough 
for three cars abreast, will help establish size 
and distance. (Figure 102.) 

The four definite planes in the composition, 
separated and made distinguishable by the 
cloud shadows are rock formations of a com¬ 
mon color. In flat light this expanse is as flat 
as a sheet of paper. Side light does not im¬ 
prove the situation as it only casts a shadow 
from the left, leaving all the rest of the area 
as flat as if it were painted on canvas, without 
modeling or atmospheric step-backs. 


Perhaps I am over-enthusiastic about my 
luck in catching this scene with benefit of 
cloud shadows, for I have spent many hours, 
on successive trips, in waiting for some light 
condition that would do justice to the subject. 
But I cannot impress too strongly the advis¬ 
ability of making use of cloud shadows when¬ 
ever and wherever they help add form or 
strength to a landscape composition. There 
are instances when small, spotty cloud shad¬ 
ows may only confuse the feeling of the true 
form of the surfaces upon which they fall, but 
more often than not they will enhance the 
quality of a distant landscape. 

It should be explained that promiscuous 
use of such shadows is not the way to get 
effective results. In this subject it is not the 
fact that cloud shadows were used but how 
they were used. The result wanted was ap¬ 
proximately that secured—to silhouette the 
formation on the right against the one on 
which the shadow is falling, and then to catch 
the next large formation in light against the 
distant 3,000 foot high rock wall in shadow. 
The heavy shadows at the left were unwanted, 
but beyond our control. Does one get these 
effects without time and effort? Hardly. In 
spite of the fact that clouds were skirting 


149 




LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 



103 

Chili Peppers, Rio 
Grande Valley. An in¬ 
stance in which better 
local color is preserved 
in shadows than in di¬ 
rect light, since the 
shadows were made lu¬ 
minous through the in¬ 
fluence of light reflected 
from the ground. 


across the sky under the driving of a high 
wind, a wait of almost two hours was neces¬ 
sary to catch a condition that fitted the forms 
of the composition. Merely to have had shad¬ 
ows cast at random over the formations would 
not have separated the planes, but would have 
simply added confusion to the forms and a 
spottiness to the composition. So much for 
this type of use of cloud shadows. 

A more common use is to employ them 
to strengthen distant flat-lighted landscape 
scenes, especially to strengthen the value of 
a distant horizon. A cloud shadow keeps the 
horizon from blending into the sky. 

I mention this matter of cloud shadow use 
partly because I have run onto Kodachrome 
enthusiasts who have the misconception that 
cloud shadows will create “black spots” in a 
composition. They will not unless they fall 
on an already dark value area that would go 
almost black in full light. A cloud shadow 
has luminosity and those in the distance will 
have a decidedly blue color, the extent of the 
purity of the blue depends upon the color of 
the surface upon which it falls. 

At the next opportunity try utilizing cloud 
shadows, judiciously of course, and see if they 
do not add an interesting quality to your 
Kodachrome results. 


The exposure for this Zion Canyon shot dis¬ 
regarded the shadows for there would be no 
point in sacrificing the true color of the rock 
formations in light in order to hold a little 
more detail in the shadow areas. The ex¬ 
posure was based on a meter reading of the 
rock wall at the right. 

Chill Peppers 

The problem on this subject was to find an 
angle that would produce the most effective 
color brilliance and color contrast. (Figure 
103.) If you have ever seen the upper Rio 
Grande Valley, in northern New Mexico in 
October, you will never forget the brilliant 
intensity of freshly picked red chili peppers 
draped in profusion over roof edges, on 
fences, or on specially built drying racks. 

Although flat light usually creates the im¬ 
pression of greatest color intensity, this in¬ 
stance is one case where flat light seemed to 
destroy this intensity because the myriad 
highlights on each string of peppers had the 
effect of diluting the color, besides destroying 
the feeling of a mass of color because of all 
the little pin-points of light. 

The strings of peppers on the pole rack in 
front of the house are, in effect, hack-lighted, 
hut in reality this shadow side is given life 


150 




LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KOPACH ROME 


and glow by light reflected back from the 
ground with the result that the intensity of 
their red color is greater than when viewed 
in flat light. This color quality of the peppers 
dictated the angle at which they were photo¬ 
graphed, hut some consideration was also 
given the direction of light on the adobe 
house, and the amount of side light used gave 
form but not dead shadows, as these shadows 
were also made luminous by reflected light. 

It may not be amiss to repeat that hare 
ground, beach sands and such highly reflective 
surfaces can be profitably used in lighting 
shadow areas in many landscape compositions. 
Make full use of reflected light whenever it is 
available. 

Meter readings are unbelievably high on a 
subject of this type, under a brilliant South¬ 
west country sun. This exposure was based on 
a “compromise” reading of Weston 400 (to 
hold faithful color in the peppers) although 
the lightest areas of the adobe house gave a 
light reading of 800. But this slight burning 
out of the left end of the house was somewhat 
offset by silhouetting the outline of the build¬ 
ing against the distant tree. 

Shooting Into the Sun 

You may recall that we discussed this prob¬ 
lem in the chapter on “Sunlight Character¬ 
istics.” This Canyon subject is an excellent 
example of the difficulty of holding any detail 
or definition, much less true color, when 
shooting toward the source of light. (Figure 
104.) This shot was made directly into the 
South at about noon, so the effect can not he 
attributed to a low sun. The only concession 
that can be made to this low sun feeling is 
that the shot was made about the middle of 
October. But I have tried this same shot in 
late June when the sun is more directly over¬ 
head, with hut slight improvement in color 
results. 

This illustration is not offered as a conten¬ 
tion that such shots should not be made. But 
one must understand what to expect. The 
local color of the rock walls runs from pink¬ 
ish red to brownish red, hut in the Koda- 
chrome all surfaces are blue, the value and 
the intensity of the blue varying with the 
angle at which the light hit each plane. This 
overall blue is a combination of sky reflection 



I fld Shooting into the sun can produce dramatic 

■ ” ■ effects, but at the sacrifice of true local color 

rendition. 


and atmospheric haze, with the haze getting 
the upper hand as distance is increased to the 
point where it all hut blocks out any sem¬ 
blance of form in the far distance. 

Whether you are satisfied with the color 
result you get on such shots depends entirely 
upon your point of view. If you let your brain 
tell you the rock is red and should he regis¬ 
tered as red, then you will be disappointed if 
not disgusted. If you let your trained eye see 
the scene as it is, and will be pleased with a 
faithful rendition of the effect as it is, you 
will get a thrill out of such results. If a land¬ 
scape painter produced the scene as he saw 
it you would commend his ability to capture 
an effect. Why, then, must we try to make 
color photography reverse all rules of true 
light conditions and produce a result that 
would be “unnatural,” to say the least. 

This example, like most of those in these 
pages, is presented to help you see and analyze 
conditions as they are, and to see beauty and 
drama in unusual and unorthodox color sub¬ 
jects. 

Exposure of distant landscapes, into the 
sun, is a guess at best. Close-up subjects, back- 


151 



LANDSCAPE PROBLEMS IN KODACHROME 


lighted, can be judged more accurately or 
definitely determined through meter readings. 
The exposure for this Canyon shot was based 
on Weston 160. This compromise was about 
half way between a meter reading of the 
shadow side of the figures and that of the light 
area of the trail, but favoring the back-lighted 
area of the figures slightly. 

For the figures alone 1 stop larger should 
have been used, hut that would have badly 
overexposed the light foreground and some¬ 
what overexposed the distance. On the other 
hand, the foreground in full light should have 
had about 1^4 smaller stop, for faithful ren¬ 
dering of texture and local color, but that 
exposure would have badly underexposed the 
distance. 

A little experience with close-up back¬ 
lighted subjects will sharpen your percep¬ 
tions for the problems more distant land¬ 
scapes present. If there are figures in the 
composition, decide whether your picture is 
of the figures, or the landscape, or a compro¬ 
mise. Sometimes a silhouette figure, if it does 
not occupy too much of the composition, will 
add a feeling of depth in a back-lighted land¬ 
scape. In arriving at a compromise on this 
shot the figures were considered as of equal 
importance to the scene as a whole. 

A Little Summary of 
Landscape Problems 

The specific landscape problems presented 
in the preceding pages are offered as sug¬ 
gested “signposts” — things to look for in 
shooting Kodachrome of this expansive world 
about us. And it is really a picture world 
when you commence to see it through know¬ 
ing eyes. 

Because of the limitations of black and 
white reproduction it has not been possible to 
include landscape subjects that depend upon 
dramatic color effect for their appeal. Many 
such subjects are most uninteresting in nor¬ 
mal light. 

It is my observation that most color workers 
are deterred from photographing landscapes 
under dramatic light conditions because their 
introduction to Kodachrome was accompanied 
with the admonition to work in full, flat sun¬ 
light, preferably if not exclusively. This is, 
no doubt, the best beginning for the beginner 


in color. It is easier to calculate exposure for 
flat-lighted subjects, and flat light will give a 
color result that seems most satisfactory to 
the untrained eye. 

But after yQU have made a dozen or so ex¬ 
posures on Kodachrome you are no longer a 
“beginner” if you have studied carefully all 
major factors of each problem before you 
made the exposure, and have just as pains¬ 
takingly and critically examined the color 
results of your efforts. From there on every 
new experience should add to your expanding 
ability as a color worker. 

Above all do not become static. Try new 
problems and new approaches. You will learn 
through doing, just as surely as does the artist 
in acquiring a mastery of his medium. 

All of which is a premise for the suggestion 
that you accept every opportunity to record 
in Kodachrome the unusual and dramatic 
light condition in landscape work. Do not he 
afraid of early and late light (an hour or so 
after sunrise or before sunset). Do not worry 
too much about strong modeling or heavy 
shadows in landscape scenes as long as they 
do not occupy more than 20% or 25% of the 
total area of your composition, and as long as 
you can use a light angle that will eliminate 
had dead shadows in the foreground. 

Get strength in your landscapes. Get good 
color in the foreground—it will make the 
whole composition seem more colorful. Fol¬ 
low good rules of composition in framing 
your pictures. Remember that color is no 
substitute for good composition. Decide what 
is most important in the scene and arrive at 
a compromise exposure that will favor that 
area. 

To develop a workable composite formula 
for better landscape photography in Koda¬ 
chrome keep in mind the principles we dis¬ 
cussed in the chapters on “Color Composi¬ 
tion,” “Value Characteristics of Color,” “Sun¬ 
light Characteristics” and “Outdoor Exposure 
Calculations.” 

All these aspects have some hearing on your 
approach to every Landscape Problem in 
Color. They are not difficult to understand, 
and not involved in practice. The more judi¬ 
ciously you incorporate and combine your 
knowledge of these principles the better will 
he your results. 


152 


CHAPTER 11 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


P ERHAPS I should warn you at 
the outset that this chapter 
goes into much detail on the 
subject of portraiture, but I 
can quiet your fears, if any, by 
assuring you that one need not employ every 
step outlined in these pages in order to secure 
satisfactory and altogether pleasing color re¬ 
sults. Since the subject is so ramified it seems 
advisable to cover it rather thoroughly and 
then leave it to the discretion of the individ¬ 
ual worker as to how completely he cares to 
follow the numerous suggestions given here. 

It is rather difficult to define a composite of 
what constitutes a portrait. To the beginner 
in color, any close-up head and shoulder shot 
may express, to him, his idea of a portrait, 
although the resulting picture may be no 
more than a color snapshot. And that is quite 
all right. We all must make a beginning, and 
more power to any Kodachrome worker who 
aspires to a studied practice of this interesting 
phase of color photography. 

The other extreme is the black and white 
professional photographer who is proficient 
in all the aspects of posing, lighting and make¬ 
up, and who has also the ability to capture 
that spark of life and personality in his sitter 
that makes the result a real portrait and not 
just an anatomical record shot. 

Portraiture with a camera, in either mono¬ 
chrome or color, challenges the best skill of 
the finest photographer. Especially so if we 
contemplate the problem with the thorough¬ 
ness of the portrait painter, for in the fine 
arts there is no higher rank than a recognized 
standing as an accomplished portrait painter. 

The painter, for all his skill and insight, 
possesses one great advantage over the camera 
portraitist in that he can be selective—he can 
alter, subdue, amplify, leave out or add to, 
due to the flexibility of his medium. The por¬ 


trait photographer must make all, or almost 
all of his compensations in the subject or 
composition in front of his camera before he 
clicks a shutter, rather than on the film, as 
the painter does on his canvas. We refer to 
color portraiture, of course. No retouching or 
alterations can be made successfully on a 
Kodachrome transparency, and only within 
strict limits on the separation negatives for a 
color print. 

Before we leave this last thought—if you 
contemplate making color prints from Koda¬ 
chrome portrait shots, bear in mind that when 
you retouch one of the three separation nega¬ 
tives the other two must be retouched in the 
same area in order to maintain color balance. 
For instance, if you touch out a flesh blemish 
on the negative for the red printer only, the 
spot will show up green in the color print for 
there is blue and yellow as well as red in every 
area no matter how red the blemish may ap¬ 
pear in the Kodachrome. This admonition 
may seem out of order here, but its statement 
now will make more obvious the necessity for 
some of the suggestions which will be offered 
later. 

For those of you seriously interested in do¬ 
ing fine color portraits may I suggest that you 
first study all the color reproductions (and 
originals when you can) of portraits by 
famous portrait painters. Because the old 
masters and some of the painters of the last 
century were “pioneers” in technique, rather 
than copyists, I prefer their works for study 
to those of the “modern” moderns. Look for 
the works of such men as Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
Frans Hals, Raphael, Velazquez, Gainsbor¬ 
ough, Van Dyck, Titian, Holbein, Rubens, 
Hogarth, Rembrandt, Durer, Raeburn and 
Whistler. 

Study their lighting, backgrounds, their 
handling of color areas and color intensities. 


153 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 



105 

“Pope Innocent Xby Velasquez. One of 
the fine portraits by this notable Old 
Master. An interesting study in both 
strength of composition and simplicity of 
lighting. Refer to the text for a discussion 
of this portrait’s fine color arrangement 
and harmony. 


There is something to be learned from all 
these things in spite of the fact that these 
painters incorporated many subtleties that 
cannot be duplicated with the camera, and 
some that are undesirable even if possible. 

The first characteristic common to so many 
of the best painted portraits is simplicity. A 
second most noticeable characteristic is the 
use of grayed or low value color even in those 
paintings that seem so colorful. There is a 
certain restraint and feeling of dignity that 
is lacking in too much of the color photog¬ 
raphy of figure and portrait studies of the 
present day. We are still a little “barbaric” 
in our conception of what is good color in 
color photography. 

What is a portrait? That depends greatly 
upon our individual conception. But cer¬ 
tainly a real portrait is more than the mere 
recording of the subject on a Kodachrome 
film, through proper exposure. A portrait 
that deserves the name is a fine technical rec¬ 
ord in which there is that touch of fleeting 
animation or personality or spark of life, or 


whatever you wish to call it. That you will 
get good color rendition must be taken for 
granted, in the broader view of the problem, 
and you will get good rendition if you follow 
known rules of lighting and exposure. But 
it is the capture of that something that lives 
which results in what can be dignified by the 
name portrait. 

I venture the opinion that most portrait 
studies are started “hind-end-to.” Most color 
workers are so mired down in the mechanics 
of the medium and so concerned with the 
problems of color selection and color har¬ 
mony that they forget that they have set out 
to produce a picture of a face and head of a 
real live flesh and blood person that thinks, 
talks, laughs and has emotions. After all, 
these myriad problems of getting ready to 
take the portrait shot are, or should be, sub¬ 
ordinate to the main theme. The color com¬ 
position should build up and enhance the 
theme of our picture rather than merely be 
a colorful setting into which we “insert” the 
subject. 


154 



PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


1 06 

“Erasmus ” by Holbein the Younger. This 
portrait employs a technique quite differ¬ 
ent from that used in Figure 105. It is a 
flat-lighted, decorative composition akin 
to much Oriental art. The same treatment 
can create an interesting portrait in color 
photography. 



The Casual Portrait 

Perhaps “portrait” is a rather forbidding 
word for those spontaneous color shots of 
family and friends that are more or less spur 
of the moment ideas. But regardless of how 
casual your approach you are never satisfied 
with casual results. 

How then to get the results you want with¬ 
out too much effort? You cannot get some¬ 
thing for nothing in color photography, but 
neither is it necessary to make the procedure 
too involved in this matter of the casual por¬ 
trait. 

If you are going to make the color shot in 
sunlight, by all means use a supplementary 
light. A reflector, even though it is no more 
than a large white card, is a necessity for good 
face modeling. Or you can use synchronized 
flash for this supplementary light, if you pre¬ 
fer. But in any event do not depend upon the 
sun alone, for you will either be obliged to 
flat-light the face or be plagued with hard, 
colorless shadows. One is as bad as the other. 


With provision made for a supplementary 
light, pick a setting and background for the 
figure. Simplicity should be the keynote. The 
background can be lighter or darker than the 
flesh tones, but when possible use a lighter 
one for dark hair and a darker one for light 
hair. The simplest of backgrounds is a wall. 
One in full sunlight can be used for light back¬ 
ground; a wall in shadow (with the figure in 
sunlight) can serve for a dark one. 

If the only available background is green 
foliage, which at best is never too satisfactory, 
use an area that is as simple in form and as 
flat in light or shade as you can find. Broken 
up areas of light and shadow in foliage de¬ 
tract from the outline of face and figure. Some 
simplification of a foliage background can 
often be secured by placing the figure far 
enough in front so as to throw the foliage out 
of focus. Ordinarily out of focus areas in 
color are to be avoided, but the procedure is 
not objectionable (for a figure background) 
when the area is all of the same color. 


155 



PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 

A seated figure will be more relaxed and is 
more likely to assume a natural pose. Unless 
there is some reason why the full figure must 
be included in the picture, you will simplify 
the composition by framing to include little 
of the figure below the hands, or still further 
and include only enough of the body below 
the shoulders to give a good base to the com¬ 
position. 

Color in the background? Yes, but it should 
be subordinate to the figure. The right color, 
of weaker intensity than the color of the cos¬ 
tume, if the costume is at all colorful, will 
step the background back into its proper 
plane. If the costume is a pastel color, a back¬ 
ground of weak intensity but lower value will 
add strength to the composition and pleas¬ 
antly silhouette the figure. In any event, the 
hue or kind of color used in the background 
should not detract from the quality of the 
flesh and must not clash with the color of the 
costume. Any pastel shade is relatively safe, 
although some are more pleasing with flesh 
colors than others. A list of suggested colors 
appears on a later page. Blue, sky blue, is 
the most all-around satisfactory background 
color of those stronger than pastels. It is a 
good near complement to flesh color, and we 
are accustomed to seeing things against the 
sky so we accept this combination even when 
the “sky” color is too strong or too dark. 

Why not use the sky itself? You can, but 
too often you are forced to a camera angle 
that is displeasing, or to a light angle that is 
inadequate. There is no better background 
than the sky for the casual shot, but do not 
use it if it gets you into other difficulties. If 
all you want is a “snapshot” you can disregard 
most all rules in capturing the dramatics of a 
windblown figure in a flaming red jacket sil¬ 
houetted against the deep blue of a north sky. 
That is one kind of color shot, and one that 
cannot be ignored. But for the moment we 
are concerned with studies that are a little less 
“snap-shotty.” 

Getting back to our seated figure before an 
appropriate background, the next step is to 
place the figure in proper relation to the angle 
of the sun’s rays. Do not use straight front 
light, but front and a little to one side. If the 
shot is being made between the hours of 9 and 
3, the sun is sufficiently overhead to cast eye, 
nose, lip and chin shadows. Select a head 


position that gives the modeling indicated by 
the sketch on page 165, (Figure 111). Alter 
the head angle until you have the front face 
fully lighted (except for the feature shadows), 
and then determine your camera position. 

With camera position set, light up the 
shadow side of the face and as much of the 
figure as possible, with the reflector. You 
can judge contrast between the front face and 
side shadow visually, and can add or reduce 
the amount of effective reflected light by 
placing the reflector closer or farther from 
the subject. 

The strength or amount of reflected light 
used is determined by the effect you want. 
If the subject is a child or an adult with deli¬ 
cate flesh tones, light the shadows until they 
all but disappear. If the subject has a rugged 
face and if you want to emphasize its strength, 
use less light on the shadow side. But do not 
decrease the amount of reflected light too 
much (it should not in any case be more than 
one f/ stop darker than the front face), for 
the shadow side will register darker than it 
appears visually, unless the exposure is made 
for the shadow side alone. And such exposure 
would tend to burn out the delicate flesh tones 
of the fully lighted front face. There are 
variations that will give a “stunt” light effect, 
but they are only stunts. 

With the “mechanics” of the task complete, 
watch for or coax some spark of animation in 
the subject, click the shutter and your “cas¬ 
ual” portrait study is on film. 

The same steps, from background to light¬ 
ing arrangement, can be followed in artificial 
light work. Set the principal light to repre¬ 
sent the sun, and the second light to serve the 
same function as the reflector. 

Do not get the impression that the simple 
and rather “casual” procedure just outlined 
will produce salon color pictures or ones that 
will offer serious competition to an old master 
portrait. But the results, whether in Koda- 
chrome or the new Kodacolor, will be a de¬ 
cided improvement over the usual “snapshot” 
figure or portrait color shot. 

If you want to improve light quality one 
step further, use a diffusing screen to soften 
the harsh sunlight, as described in the chapter 
on “Reflectors and Diffusers.” 

Base exposures, indoors and out, on meter 


156 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


readings on the fully lighted front face. If no 
ineter is used outdoors, use y> smaller f/ stop 
than for an average subject in full sunlight, 
or y 2 larger f/ than for an average subject if 
the diffusing screen is used. Indoors, follow 
regular exposure tables for photofloods, in 
determining distance of lights to subject, 
shutter speed and f/ stop, with necessary com¬ 
pensations for lighter or darker than average 
subjects. 

After you have successfully mastered this 
rather elementary technique you will want to 
progress to a more serious and more thorough 
study of the problem of carefully planned and 
expertly executed color portraits. 

Study Old Master Portrttits 

Before wc delve into the subject of serious 
portrait studies it will be advisable to return 
for a moment to the original suggestion that 
the Old Masters can teach us much that can 
be incorporated in portraiture in the medium 
of color photography. 

Since color has come to photography it will 
be well if we cross over into the fascinating 
company of the World of Art and surround 
ourselves with as much knowledge of art and 
painting as can have specific application in 
the things we propose to do photographically. 
With an appreciation and understanding of 
the fine arts the color photographer will he 
much better fortified to produce something 
worthwhile. 

It will pay you to buy several inexpensive 
color reproductions of Old Master portraits, 
to serve as a ready reference for composition, 
for color arrangement, for placement of head 
and figure, for the pattern of the subject 
against the background, for the use of hands, 
and for lighting. 

The first element for study should be the 
placement of the head. In the portraits sans 
elaborate settings one finds the head placed 
well above the center of the area of the com¬ 
position. One might say that this is a rule so 
universally recognized that we seldom think 
of doing otherwise. 

A second characteristic of the fine old por¬ 
traits is that even in studies of the head alone 
the artist always included a sufficient amount 
of the body to give generous support to the 
head. 

In your study of the Old Masters you will 



I ft"T This sketch emphasizes the mass and di- 

■ ” ■ rectional line employed in “The Lady 

with a Fan,” by Velasquez. 

also find that when more of the figure is used 
the pose of the hands, the arms, the lines of 
the costume, and the arrangement of color in 
mass and value are all skillfully employed to 
lead the eye into the focal point of the com¬ 
position—the face. 

“TIte Latly with a Fan ” 

By Velasquez 

One of the finest examples of a masterly 
handling of all elements to support and ex¬ 
press a personality is “The Lady with a Fan” 
by Velasquez. The accompanying sketch 
(Figure 107) illustrates how all lines of the 
composition lead the eye around, back and 
toward the face. The simplicity of well placed 
mass is expressed by the black dress and man¬ 
tilla, painted in those Velasquez blacks “that 
ripple and glisten like a shadowed stream 
flowing under overhanging boughs.” The 
white gloves, delicately modeled in blues, add 
a value contrast to the black costume and a 
color complement to the delicate warm glow 


157 









PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 



text for a discussion of this subject. 

of the flesh tones. A further and more intense 
spot of this complementary blue is found in 
the bow below the rosary. 

Perhaps this description over-simplifies the 
study, but I only want to impress upon you 
that the real artist, regardless of his medium, 
does not need to “shout” color in order to 
achieve a colorful result. 

“Pope Innocent X” by Velazquez 

The same sound fundamentals of good com¬ 
position are found in the two portraits which 
appear on earlier pages in this chapter. In 
the portrait “Pope Innocent X,” by Velazquez 
(Figure 105) we find the strength of a pyra¬ 
midal composition. The firm, broad base of 
the costume supports the pyramidal shaped 
cape, which in turn supports the strongly but 
delicately modeled head. The directional 
lines of the arms and the chair frame very 
positively direct the attention toward the 
head. 

In color the composition is equally well 
planned. This is a red picture, with suggestive 
hints of purple and crimson in cap, cape, face 


and background curtain, with the background 
area interestingly broken by the gold chair. 
There is orderly variety in the masses of red, 
with the lowest value and the weakest inten¬ 
sity being used in the background. The sec¬ 
ond group of orderly arrangement of masses 
is found in the whites of the surplice, sleeves, 
collar and the letter held in the left hand. 
But with all the seeming importance of color 
and mass in costume and surroundings the 
head still remains the dominant point of in¬ 
terest, further accentuated by the cunning, 
comprehensive glance of the eyes. 

66 Erasmus ” by Holbein 

In the Holbein portrait “Erasmus” (Figure 
106) the excellent placement of the figure is 
immediately compelling. The simplicity of 
the unbroken mass of the figure is balanced 
and relieved by a background broken in pat¬ 
tern by a small design in a color related to 
that of the field. 

There is interesting variety in mass between 
the coat and the cap. The same feeling of 
variety is maintained between face and hands 
and even though the hands seem to compete 
with the face for attention the pencil very 
tactfully directs one’s eyes back to the head. 

“Mrs. Seymour ” by Copley 

To bring our study down to that of early 
American art the reproduction of the portrait 
“Mrs. Seymour” by Copley (Figure 108) illus¬ 
trates an interesting placement of the figure 
and a good sense of lighting. But there is 
something lacking, and a little closer inspec¬ 
tion reveals that this disturbing element is the 
rigidity of the pose and the too obvious intent 
to engage the hands in some activity. The lady 
is conscious of her duty as a model, and you 
are conscious of her effort. It detracts from 
the feeling of naturalness and ease so well 
exemplified in the Velazquez and Holbein 
portraits. 

Whistler-s “Portrait of My Mother 99 

Bringing our study about two generations 
nearer the present day than the time of Cop¬ 
ley, we find an American whose best work 
ranks as great art. This man was Whistler, 
whose “Portrait of My Mother” is known to 


158 




PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


109 

This famous portrait is 
shown here in sketch 
form in order to empha¬ 
size the elements of 
mass and tone values 
that give strength and 
dignity to this fine com¬ 
position. 



every school child and most adults wherever 
art is a part of the life of the people. 

Whistler’s art has been described as “The 
perfection of delicacy, both in line and color. 
Apparently very sketchy, it is in reality the 
maximum of effect with the minimum of 
effort. It has the pictorial charm of mystery 
and suggestiveness, and the technical effect 
of light, air and space.” 

An analytical examination of the sketch of 
this portrait (Figure 109) emphasizes the 
orderly arrangement of this composition— 
order in the areas or masses—order in the 
values—and order with variety. 

Examine first the order of values and 
masses. In the light values we find the largest 
area in the picture on the wall; the next in 
size is the combined mass of head and cap; 
then the hands, handkerchief and lace cuffs as 
a unit; the fragment of the picture at the 
right; and last, the small light pattern in the 
curtain. These areas are the lightest values. 

The next step lower in the value scale is the 
wall area; the third step down is the floor; the 
fourth distinctive value step is the curtain; 
and the last is that of the dress and horizontal 
panel at the juncture of the wall and the floor. 


We can find still another order—that of the 
structural strength of the composition, which 
is achieved through arrangement of the dark 
value areas. The dominant mass is the figure 
and baseboard. Second is the curtain. Third 
in importance is the hair, partly because of 
what and where it is in relation to the theme 
of the picture. The fourth and last in impor¬ 
tance is in the fine line of the dark picture 
frames. 

The color scheme of this portrait is sim¬ 
plicity itself and a tribute to the effectiveness 
of restraint in variety of color, in color inten¬ 
sity, and in massing of color. The wall color is 
a light value, weak intensity green-yellow, 
with a floor color of same hue but slightly 
different in both value and intensity. This 
background of a near complement to the pale 
flesh tones gives the face and hands a warmth 
and subtle glow beyond what their color 
would reflect in less favorable association. 
The only other color in the composition is the 
faintest touch of coolness in the whites and 
blacks, an expression of the influence of sub¬ 
dued light on these surfaces. 

The more you study this fine portrait the 
more you realize that this order and variety 
(Continued on page 163) 


159 










CREATING COLOR COMPOSITIONS IN STILL LIFE 


There is no better exercise for developing a sense of color composition than through experi¬ 
mentation with Still Life studies in Kodachrome. One can give full play to his creative instincts, 
in kind and arrangement of color, for he has control of all factors that go into or that affect 
the composition. 

This color composition is based on the employment of two principal colors that are, in 
their pure state, complementary. The scheme is built around Yellow-Red (Orange) and Blue, 
its complement. As the Yellow-Red used is the more intense of the two colors, a larger area of 
the Blue (which is less intense) must be used to approach a color balance. The light value of 
the print on the wall—since its color is a near neutral—only affects the value of the composition 
and not its color balance. The dark table top, although less neutral, does not appreciably add to 
the amount of warm color in the composition. 

The Yellow-Green foliage in full light is a minor introduction of a third color but one that 
is distantly related to the Yellow-Red, since both contain Yellow. 

In creating such color compositions it must be remembered that only colors in the same 
value key will be reproduced faithfully. If one color is light and another is dark, an exposure 
that is correct for the light color will reproduce the dark color darker than its local color. The 
light one will appear lighter if the exposure is based on the dark one. In the illustration 
herewith the Blue background recorded a darker Blue than its local color because the exposure 
was calculated to hold as much detail in the flowers as possible, without too much loss in the 
darker areas. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome, Daylight type; Illumination, Daylight (blue) 
Photoflood; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 11% inch B. & L. Convertible Protar. The reproduc¬ 
tion is four color process, letterpress, plates made direct from the transparency. 


160 





jtt 8BSRw*a| 




/ 


i 















PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


in areas and values is no accident of time or 
place. Everything is evidence of deliberate 
planning and masterful execution. There is 
nothing extraneous in this composition and 
nothing could be removed without disturbing 
the fine balance. 

The pose of the figure, the dignity and sim¬ 
plicity of the entire picture express the calm, 
orderly habits of a life that is almost over. 

But Robert Henri, the painter, interprets 
this great work of art in terms that the por¬ 
trait photographer should remember and ap¬ 
ply to his studies of the personalities of his 
sitters. Henri says “About the portrait Whis¬ 
tler painted of his mother I have always had 
a great feeling of beauty. She is old. But there 
is something in her face and gesture that tells 
of the integrity of her life. There is nothing 
wabbly about her face as there is in the faces 
of those whose integrity has been uncertain. 
A wonderful record of woman’s beauty would 
have been lost to the world if her son had seen 
fit to look for any other beauty than that 
which was present. There she sits, and in her 
poise one reads the history of a splendid per¬ 
sonality. She is at once so gentle, so experi¬ 
enced, and so womanly strong. She may have 
had other beauty in her youth, but it could 
not have surpassed this, which charms and 
fills us with reverence.” 

As you study the works of the Old Masters 
you will be increasingly impressed with their 
conservative and restrained use of intense 
color. It will sometime dawn on you that even 
the most colorful of these fine old paintings 
are, after all, very much subdued in key and 
intensity, in comparison with what most color 
photograpers seem to think necessary to regis¬ 
ter the result as a color picture. 

This ability to create the illusion of color 
with but little color is the touch of the master. 
Anybody can concoct a “colored” picture 
through the simple means of associating 
splashes of intense, pure colors in something 
they designate as a composition. 

In Ruskin’s “The Stones of Venice” he ex¬ 
plains that the finer an eye for color a painter 
has (and we might include color photogra¬ 
phers) , the less does he require to gratify it 
intensely; that less, however, must be ex¬ 
tremely good, as the finest notes of a great 
singer, which are so near to silence. 

If you are seriously interested in under¬ 
taking color portraiture as an art, you can do 


no better than experiment with compositions 
of your own based on some of the best old 
masters. Try to duplicate the lighting, the 
color harmony, and the subtleties that make 
them everlastingly pleasing. Do this experi¬ 
mental copying just as art students make 
copies of paintings. Having to mix the colors 
and match the values gives the student a valu¬ 
able understanding of how the master used 
them to achieve his results. 

The Serious Portrait Stutly 

By “serious” portrait studies we mean those 
that will be as carefully planned and as pains¬ 
takingly executed, in your medium of color 
photography, as the serious approach of the 
artist in painting a portrait. The final form 
of your effort should be a full color print, 
rather than merely a color transparency. A 
fine color print expresses to most of us the 
most satisfying ultimate of our efforts on such 
subjects as a picture of a human being. 

If you will pardon a little digression for a 
moment we might consider one aspect of the 
mechanics of this medium of color photogra¬ 
phy. Portrait work can be done with a “one- 
shot” camera, but it is presumed that few of 
you own, or desire to own such expensive 
equipment. Besides, Kodachrome is a more 
flexible medium in many respects. Once you 
have captured the portrait in Kodachrome, 
separation negatives (for color print making) 
can be made at your leisure (or you can have 
them made at any later date). Further, such 
separation negatives can he made and remade 
until you are completely satisfied. When 
separation negatives are made in the camera 
(in a “one-shot”) they cannot be remade, in 
case of failure in the laboratory later, without 
repeating all the effort of the original arrange¬ 
ment of the setting, etc. Such retaking is 
expensive, and is often impossible. 

Personally I like the idea of having the 
Kodachrome transparency as a color guide in 
making color prints. When one makes prints 
from “one-shot” negatives he has no further 
guide as to color than a gray scale, and his 
memory. So much for this aspect of the under¬ 
taking. The argument as to which produces 
the better final quality is debatable, for too 
much depends upon the skill of the photog¬ 
rapher. No single type of equipment or pro¬ 
cess has any monopoly on quality in such a 


163 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


personal medium of expression as photogra¬ 
phy. 

The portrait phase of color photography 
has, as yet, made but little progress because 
most color workers have just commenced to 
get the “feel” of this medium of Kodachrome. 
And too, experience and ability in black and 
white portraiture is not quite enough, for one 
cannot merely add color to black and white 
technique and produce a fine color portrait. 
A new element must be introduced, and for 
want of a better word we shall call this new 
element “Art.” Art in color selection, color 
arrangement, color harmony, color composi¬ 
tion, and a new appreciation for the effect of 
light. 

Every element should help express the per¬ 
sonality of the subject. The placement of the 
figure, the color of costume and background, 
the lighting and the value key of the whole 
composition should be planned to enhance 
the mood and character of the sitter. 

In our brief investigation of the few Old 
Master portraits described on previous pages 
we should have learned that the painters of 
those portraits did not set out to merely paint 
a picture but to achieve the infinitely more 
difficult result of recording a personality. 

The color photographer may produce ex¬ 
cellent color pictures but still not produce a 
portrait. But if a good color portrait is a 
finely executed color picture plus that spark 
of personality that makes a picture a portrait, 
then the photographer has an obvious and 
immense advantage over the painter. The pho¬ 
tographer can catch, in a split second, that 
fugitive and fleeting something that expresses 
personality. The painter must retain in mem¬ 
ory what the camera shutter captures and 
locks up in the film. 

But both photographer and painter must 
know when the sitter registers that momen¬ 
tary expression that they feel best portrays 
the spirit and character of their subject. 

In planning and executing a color portrait 
the following progressive steps will help order 
your thinking, and in practice they will be 
found a good basic formula, amended to fit 
your own mental processes and your mechani¬ 
cal facilities and equipment. 

1. Analyze the character and temperament 
of the sitter. Art students are continually re¬ 
minded that ten minutes of inquisitive study 

164 


of the model is worth more than hours of 
haphazard work. It would seem to be an 
equally good rule for the portrait photogra¬ 
pher. 

2. Decide upon the pose. Determine how 
much of the figure can or should be used. 
Study what turn of the head will best express 
the sitter’s personality, and how this can be 
enhanced by use of the arms and hands. 

3. Next should come the selection of the 
costume. Its color, line and form should be 
in keeping with the atmosphere you want to 
create, and should by all means become an 
integral part of the spirit of the portrait, and 
not something that offers competition to the 
face. 

4. The background is dictated by flesh, hair 
and costume colors. Unobtrusive though it 
may be, the background must not be slighted 
in the planning of the composition as a unit. 

5. With the foregoing decided upon you 
have all the elements for a portrait composi¬ 
tion, but you do not have a composition until 
these elements have been associated in some 
orderly arrangement. That arrangement 
should support the mood of the sitter as suc¬ 
cessfully as is evidenced by such outstanding 
examples as Whistler’s portrait of his mother. 
But composition in color photography is more 
than the arrangement of areas or masses. 
Equally important is the selection and ar¬ 
rangement of color, and an orderly variety 
in the intensity and value of the colors used. 

6. Now comes the problem of lighting. For 
the present discussion we will concern our¬ 
selves only with fundamental lighting—natur¬ 
al lighting for a natural effect. The matter of 
restraint in lighting seems as difficult for most 
color photographers as that of exercising re¬ 
straint in a too lavish use of color. 

There are only two reasons for giving any 
thought to lighting. The first is to have suffi¬ 
cient light present to get an exposure that will 
properly record the entire composition on 
film. The second use of light is to help express 
the character and temperament of the sitter. 
Any use of light that goes beyond these simple 
applications only tends to call attention to the 
use of superfluous light, with an unnatural 
result. 


* 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


7. Now we come to that subtle something 
that makes a color picture a portrait—expres¬ 
sion. When we use the term expression we 
conjure up a whole galaxy of visualizations, 
from calm repose to an expressive smile. You 
are the judge of what this fleeting something 
is to be, determined by your study of the sitter 
and what mood best expresses what differen¬ 
tiates this human being from all other human 
beings. One clue to animated expression can 
be taken from our experience in photograph¬ 
ing action. No doubt you have discovered long 
since that action is best expressed at the mo¬ 
ment of start or finish of an action. A rather 
trite example is that of a jumping horse. If 
you catch him in mid air he appears to be 
hanging in a state of suspended animation. 
If you catch him at the start of the leap or 
upon impact in landing the illusion of move¬ 
ment seems to be more complete. This is often 
so in catching a smile or other animated ex¬ 
pression. Get it just as it starts to break rather 
than after it has reached full expression. Try 
this in your next portrait shot and see if you 
do not agree. 

Simple Lighting 

At the risk of being called old fashioned I 
urge you to make your early experiments in 
Kodachrome portraiture with simple lighting, 
the kind of lighting you will find was sufficient 
for most of the world’s greatest portrait paint¬ 
ers. 

There are two such basic lighting arrange¬ 
ments. The first is modeling light; the second 
is flat light. 

Let us consider the first type first, and it is 
as simple as this. Visualize lighting an egg 
from above and in front (assuming that the 
side toward you may be called “front”), with 
a single light source, and at such angle that 
the highlight on the egg will correspond in 
position to the upper crown of a human fore¬ 
head. 

If the light is in a vertical plane that coin¬ 
cides with a line from the center of your face 
to the center of the egg you have a head-on 
flat light, and soft shadows on each side of 
the egg as its surface turns away to the egg’s 
outline. 

Now move the light 45 degrees to the left 
of the original head-on position (without 
changing your angle of view), and the left 



112 


Figure 110. An egg suggests the general form of the 
human head. 

Figure 111. Illustrating “Near-shadow” lighting, for 
portrait photography in color. 

Figure 112. An example of “Far-shadow” lighting, a 
lighting popular with portrait painters. 


165 














PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 



113 

“Stuart Smith, Esq.” 

Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 

side of the egg becomes relatively flat-lighted, 
with the shadow at the left outline all but 
disappearing. But the shadow on the right 
side has been extended over more of the right 
surface of the egg. At the same time the high¬ 
light has moved to the left of center. We will 
call this “near-shadow” lighting, for reasons 
we will explain later. 

If the light is moved to the right a similar 
distance the right side of the egg becomes 
flat-lighted and the left side is now the shadow 
side. We will call this “far-shadow” lighting. 

Our terms “far- and near-shadow” are clari¬ 
fied when we apply these light angle varia¬ 
tions to a human head, in three-quarter posi¬ 
tion, as shown in Figures 111 and 112. The 
terms “far” and “near” now mean that the 
shadow is either on the subject’s side nearest 
you (and the camera), or on the far side. 

Turn back to the reproductions of the por¬ 
traits of “Pope Innocent X” (Figure 105) and 
“Mrs. Seymour” (Figure 108) and notice that 
both are done in “near-shadow” lighting. Just 
as many portraits are painted in “far-shadow” 
lighting, however. If one can say there is any 
rule to govern choice between these two light 
angles it is that “near-shadow” lighting offers 
more opportunity to emphasize bone struc¬ 
ture and pronounced facial planes, as illus¬ 
trated in Figure 113, “Stuart Smith, Esq.” by 
Julian Smith. This lighting very obviously 


added more emphasis to the cheek bone, tem¬ 
ple and frontal bone than would have ‘far- 
shadow” lighting. (More than one light source 
was used, as is obvious, but the general effect 
is of a single light source, for primary facial 
modeling.) 

If the subject is a child or young lady “far- 
shadow” lighting will leave a larger unbroken 
area of fully lighted flesh color nearest the 
camera. 

So far we have concerned ourselves only 
with a single light source, overhead, in front, 
and to either right or left. Without diagram¬ 
ing light placement you can visualize that the 
“far-shadow” light calls for the main light 
near the camera position, but above. “Near¬ 
shadow” lighting calls for the principal light 
in a position 60 to 90 degrees to the camera 
axis. 

So much for the principal light source, and 
may I suggest that your supplementary lights 
be sufficiently subordinated so that the fin¬ 
ished result will appear to have been secured 
through the use of a single light source. 

The second type of general lighting hardly 
needs more than mention because it is “flat,” 
flat-light, so flat as to be practically shadow¬ 
less on all but the background, and if there is 
sufficient color and value separation, even the 
background shadow should be eliminated. In 
photography this calls for the light source or 
sources at or near camera position and reason¬ 
ably close to camera height. 

If you will permit a reference to the Old 
Masters again, study the portraits “Erasmus” 
by Holbein (Figure 106) and Whistler’s 
“Mother” (Figure 109). These were both done 
in flat light, but a flat light that is nicely dif¬ 
fused. A more modern exponent of flat light 
is Bernard Boutet de Monvel, whose portraits 
are some of the finest of this technique. 

But keep this one thing in mind. When the 
best painters use flat light more attention is 
given to pattern and decorative composition. 
Some of them even show influence of oriental 
art which is primarily decorative and two- 
dimensional. 

Yes, you can use full flat light but if you 
do, work out the pattern of your composition 
with great care, and then be sure that you 
have soft, even illumination fully covering the 
entire composition. 

There has been so much involved and 


166 



PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


“stunt” lighting recommended in recent years 
that the inference is that one is not up-to-date, 
and certainly not original, if he follows more 
conventional and orthodox methods. There 
will be time enough to try stunt and trick 
lighting after one has learned to produce 
superior results through more fundamental 
procedures. 

Short Scale Lighting 

Just a word about supplementary lights. In 
color work such lights are more than advis¬ 
able—their use is imperative. In portrait work 
exposures should be based on the fully lighted 
areas of the flesh tones. No “compromise” 
exposures, between light and dark areas, will 
record flesh tones with fidelity. No flesh shad¬ 
ows should call for more than one full f/ stop 
more exposure than do the fully lighted areas. 
In fact such lighting will give you rather 
strong shadow effects, although there will be 
good color in such shadows. This means a 
very short scale in your lighting, which re¬ 
quires very careful light balance and place¬ 
ment. 

If you desire to reproduce costume colors 
rather faithfully, the darkest areas on the 
costume should give a meter reading within 
one and one-half f/ stops of the fully lighted 
flesh readings. For such colorful results use 
costume colors that are fairly light in value, 
to keep them in key with the flesh tones. 

Perhaps you want to use rich, dark colors 
in costume and background. Since the ex¬ 
posure is to be based on the flesh tones, every 
darker than flesh value will be still darker in 
the Kodachrome result, for all such colors and 
areas will he underexposed, to what extent 
depends upon the percentage of incident light 
each color reflects. The only rule that can be 
advanced that will cover every situation is 
that you must use a color that is somewhat 
more intense and somewhat lighter in value 
than you want that color to appear in the 
final result. A few experiments will help you 
judge about how much darker a variety of 
colors will record in Kodachrome. 

Or if you are doing a Whistler’s “Mother” 
type of thing, forget about holding faithful 
color in the dark colors, hut give those areas 
sufficient light to show form and some detail. 

In lighting backgrounds remember that you 
can control their value with light. For in¬ 


stance, if you have a blue background that is 
too light in value and perhaps too intense in 
color, underlighting it will lower its value and 
in effect will reduce its intensity. Or you may 
want to reverse the procedure and overlight it 
to raise its value. Do not have background too 
close to sitter, and be sure that neither the 
background nor other surrounding surfaces 
reflect unwanted color casts back onto the 
subject. 

The foregoing suggestions are by no means 
arbitrary rules. You will make more progress 
and will produce better results through work¬ 
ing out your own solutions. I do strongly ad¬ 
vise that you buy several little art books show¬ 
ing reproductions of good painted portraits. 
There are many such hooks on the market for 
50c to 75c each, and they will be worth their 
weight in gold. They will teach you more of 
the fundamentals of posing and lighting, for 
color portraiture, than the “formulas” of a 
dozen photographic experts. 

Use of Arms and Hands 

In the five reproductions of painted por¬ 
traits (shown on previous pages in this chap¬ 
ter) hands are used to good advantage, and 
in all of them the hands were given something 
to do, even though a little too obviously in the 
portrait of “Mrs. Seymour.” 

The two portraits (Figures 114 and 115) by 
Julian Smith show admirable use of hands. 


114 

“Professor Fraser ” 
Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 



107 





PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 



“The Master Plays ” 
Julian Smith, F.R.PJS. 


In the portrait of “Professor Fraser” the use 
of a stick of blackboard chalk adds a deft 
touch that unobtrusively classifies the sub¬ 
ject’s profession. The hands and arms in the 
portrait “The Master Plays” are not only ex¬ 
cellent directional lines, hut they help create 
the mood of the sitter. The upper hand leads 
the eye directly into the face. The lower hand 
adds a light area spot to an otherwise over¬ 
large expanse of dark. Although the violin 
how may seem to carry the eye out of the 
bottom of the picture, the more dominant 
action of the how is to direct the eye into the 
sweep of the left arm, and through that hack 
to the face again. 

In planning portrait studies remember that 
many hints as to the character, profession, 
hobbies, etc., of the sitter can he subtly sug¬ 
gested through effective use of the hands. 
Give them something to do, hut he careful 
that the “doing” does not call too much atten¬ 
tion to its action. 

Motlifying Fetcial Faults 

Facial faults (variations from the ideal) 
may often he modified hv one or more of the 
following: The pose, lighting, make-up, hair- 
dress, costume, and sometimes with acces¬ 
sories. 

To list a few more common faults, we find 
(1) receding chin and forehead, (2) eyes too 
close set, (3) long thin nose, (4) small or 


deep-set eyes, (5) thin lips, (6) too full lips, 
(7) too thin lashes and eyebrows, (8) exces¬ 
sively high forehead, (9) low forehead, (10) 
prominent cheek hones, (11) overly large, 
broad nose, (12) big ears, (13) forward jut¬ 
ting jaw, (14) discoloration under the eyes, 
(15) double chin, (16) excessively round face, 
and (17) excessively thin face. 

The suggestions that follow apply to a lady 
sitter unless otherwise specifically stated. 

1. Receding chin and/or forehead. For receding chin 
alone, use approximately front view, and lighter color 
make-up on the chin than on the balance of the face. 
Also try tilting the head back slightly or lower the 
camera angle. If both chin and forehead recede, keep 
close to the same straight front view, and use slightly 
lighter make-up on both chin and forehead. Be sure 
the color of the make-up is the same, only lighter in 
value. 

2. Eyes too close set. Usually go with narrow, pinch¬ 
ed nose. Can be best modified with make-up. Use 
mascara on the lashes at the outer corners of the eyes 
and keep eye shadow and rouge away from the nose. 
Widen the apparent width of the nose with slightly 
lighter make-up on bridge and carry this tone down 
over the sides of the bridge. 

3. Long thin nose. Try foreshortening with the pose 
of the head. Keep eye shadow, eye brow pencil and 
rouge away from the nose. 

4. Small or deep-set eyes. Arch the eyebrows a trifle 
lower than usual. Use mascara only on the tips of the 
lashes. Do not use too much eye shadow, nor a dark 
shade. 

5. Thin, tight lips. Bring make-up slightly over the 
natural edges of the lips, with slightly darker make-up 
on the lower lip (it will match in the result because it 
gets more light than upper lip). Try to get an expres¬ 
sion with the lips slightly parted—an expression as 
though about to speak or smile—but do not show teeth 
unless you want such a smile. 

6. Too full lips. Keep make-up well inside the natur¬ 
al outlines of the lips. A lighter color lipstick keeps 
lips from being too prominent. Often smiling lips look 
less full. 

7. Too thin lashes and brows. Easily corrected with 
make-up but must not he overdone. Exaggeration can 
completely change character. 

8. Excessively high forehead. If a woman, arrange¬ 
ment of the hair is often sufficient. Or if the make-up 
next to the hair at top of forehead is a little darker it 
will shorten the forehead. Or you can use a foreshort¬ 
ened pose or lower camera angle, or keep highlights 
low on the forehead. 

9. Low forehead. Keep hair hack off forehead and 
arranged higher to give length to the head. Have high¬ 
light run into the hair, above hair line. Darken the 
upper temple areas to narrow the forehead. 

10. Prominent cheek bones. If a man you might use 
“far-shadow” lighting and do not have too much value 
contrast between face and background. If a woman, 
keep highlights off cheek hones, and use little or no 
rouge. “Far-shadow” lighting on a three-quarter pose, 
against a background that softens the far outlines of 
the face will help. 


168 



PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


11. Overly large, broad nose. Sometimes a slightly 
off front-face pose helps, but do not turn or tilt head 
in any way that will emphasize the nostrils. Use a dark¬ 
er make-up on the sides of the nose and around the 
nostrils, with a lighter shade down the top of the nose. 

12. Big ears. If a man, choose a background close in . 
value to that of the flesh tones. If a woman, hairdress 
can be arranged to correct this fault. 

13. Forward jutting jaw. Darker make-up on the 
chin than on balance of face. Higher camera angle, or 
tilt head forward and down. 

14. Discoloration under the eyes. Expert make-up 
can bring flesh tones and this discoloration closer to¬ 
gether in value by darkening the flesh slightly and 
deftly lightening the discolored areas. Strong top and 
front light falling more directly on these areas will 
make them appear lighter than cheek planes. 

15. Double chin. Have model sit erect, then lean for¬ 
ward slightly. Camera position should be slightly 
above the level of the head. See that lighting does not 
cast shadows that outline these voluptuous chins. 

16. Excessively round face. Hair should be well off 
forehead. Eyebrows should be arched slightly with 
make-up. Rouge should cover outer area of cheeks in 
triangular shape, reaching in to about the center of the 
eye, and then rather straight down to jaw line. Use 
darker make-up base on the outside of the face, lighter 
in the central area. Make-up mouth as wide as possible 
but do not add fullness to lips. Use any pose but a 
full front face. “Near-shadow” lighting will further 
narrow the face. 

17. Excessively thin face. A soft arrangement of the 
hair at sides of head, and lower on top of head. Use 
full front, or near front face pose. A face of this type 
can be widened with rather flat light. If the hair is 
light, a light value background is advisable. Costume 
neck line should be round or curving—no V-neck or 
straight lines down from the head. 


Materials for Color Make-up 

Since no retouching can be done success¬ 
fully on a Kodachroine transparency and only 
a limited amount is advisable on separation 
negatives, make-up for color work is both 
imperative and exacting. “Panchromatic” 
make-up cannot be used for Kodachrome. 

Special make-up for color work is available 
from several manufacturers. All of it is to be 
used sparingly, but when properly applied its 
use will not be detected in the Kodachrome 
transparency. 

The following materials should be in your 
make-up kit. (1) Foundation, (2) Face Pow¬ 
der, (3) Powder Brush, (4) Lip Rouge, (5) 
Brush for Lip Rouge, (6) Rouge, (7) Eye 
Shadow, (8) Eyebrow Pencil, (9) Liner, (10) 
Brush for Liner, (11) Towels, (12) Face Tis¬ 
sue, (13) Cold Cream. 


Make-up for Women 

MAX FACTOR 


Complexion 

Blonde 

Sun Tan 

Brunette 

Foundation 

Pan-Cake 

Pan-Cake 

Pan-Cake 


Cream No. 1 

Tan 1 or 

Natural 


or 2 

Natural 2 

1 or 2 

Powder 

Olive No. 1 

Sun Tan 

Olive No. 1 

Eye Shadow 

Light Grey 

Grey 

Brown 

Lip Rouge 

Tru-color 

Tru-color 

Tru-color 


Light Red 

Med. Red 

Med. Red 

Eyebrow 

Light 

Brown or 

Brown or 

Pencil 

Brown 

Black 

Black 

Eyelash 

Brown 

Brown or 

Brown or 

Make-up 


Black 

Black 

Cheek 

Light 

Tru-color 

Tru-color 

Rouge 

Red 

Dark Red 

Dark Red 

Max Factor’s Pan-Cakes are in 

dry cake 

form, and 

are best 

applied with 

a moist 


sponge in a thin, even coat. This manufacturer 
has recently introduced a new make-up known 
as the “T-D-Gray” series. The colors are scien¬ 
tific duplications of natural skin-tones, sub¬ 
dued to fit the limitations of the color camera. 
This new make-up is in liquid form; the thin¬ 
nest mineral oil which will hold the necessary 
pigments in suspension. It forms a micro¬ 
scopically thin, hut none the less effective, 
coating which partakes of the natural trans¬ 
parency of the skin. 

MINER, INC. 


Complexion 

Fair 

Brunette 

Suntan 

Foundation 

K-22 

K-23 

K-25 

Powder 

K-22 

K-23 

K-25 

Eye Shadow 

Foto No. 1 

Foto No. 2 

Foto No. 2 

Lip Rouge 

K-Light 

K-Medium 

K-Dark 

Eyebrow 

Pencil 

Brown 

Brown 

Brown 

Cheek 

Medium 

Medium 

Medium 


Rouge 

Miner, Inc., foundations are of the grease¬ 
paint type. Make-up kits as a complete unit 
are supplied by this manufacturer through 
photographic dealers. 

rubenstein’s photochrome 

Foundation, Photochrome No. 1; Powder, 
Light; Eye Shadow, Light Brown; Lip Rouge, 
Medium Red; Eyebrow Pencil, Brown; Cheek 
Rouge, Medium. 

The Rubenstein foundation comes in liquid 
form. It is easily applied, dries evenly, and 
produces a fine skin texture. 


169 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


Make-up for Men 

MAX FACTOR 

Foundation, Pan-Cake Tan No. 1; Powder, 
Sun Tan; Eyebrow Pencil, Brown or Black. 

MINER, INC. 

Foundation, (blonde) K-23, (brunette) K-24; 
Powder, (blonde) K-23, (brunette) K-24; 
Eyebrow Pencil, Brown. 

rubenstein’s photochrome 

Foundation, Photochrome No. 2; Powder, 

Medium; Eyebrow Pencil, Brown. 

Elizabeth Arden’s Screen-Stage Make-up, 
especially the “N” Technicolor Series, is quite 
popular. It is easy to apply and produces very 
satisfactory results. 

Remember that make-up must not create a 
“mask.” Its purpose in color work is to en¬ 
hance the natural beauty of the subject and 
to present a smooth, even coloration that 
matches the natural skin color. Make a few 
experimental shots before you attempt many 
serious portrait studies. There is a fine balance 
in this matter of make-up that can only be 
learned by a little trial and error unless you 

have had instruction in make-up for color. 

# 

Color Composition 

The ideal situation exists when the photog¬ 
rapher can control the selection and arrange¬ 
ment of all colors—provided he knows what 
he is about. 

A portrait color composition should be con¬ 
ceived and created in the order of importance 
of the elements and the areas they occupy, 
and generally in the following sequence: 

1. Costume 

—should harmonize with the sitter’s 
complexion type, and should be ap¬ 
propriate to the mood to be expressed 

2. Background 

—subordinated in both color and value 
to the rest of the composition unless 
the background itself is a part of the 
story 

3. Incidentals 

—include no extraneous objects, but ob¬ 
jects that support the theme of the 
picture may often be used as effective 
spots of color accents 

I might give you a hundred color combina¬ 
tions and you in turn could make a hundred 


variations of them, but only a few color sug¬ 
gestions are being listed. They are presented 
as a starter for your own thinking rather than 
as definite recommendations for use as is. 

The two basic fundamentals upon which to 
build your color scheme are (1) a costume 
that enhances the beauty and personality of 
the sitter, and (2) follow the rule of “twice 
the area, one-half the intensity” or “one-half 
the area, twice the intensity” and so on, in 
planning the color for each area in your com¬ 
position. (See discussion of “Values and In¬ 
tensities” in chapter 3.) 

In the list of color suggestions which follows 
we are obliged to use color names common to 
industry rather than the more exact and scien¬ 
tific designations of the Munsell System, for 
the Munsell terms would mean little to you 
unless you had the charts by which you could 
definitely identify each color in its proper 
intensity and value. 

We have headed up the color listing with 
the suggestions “Largest Area,” “Second Larg¬ 
est,” etc. By “Largest Area” we mean just 
that, and not necessarily the background. If 
the costume occupies a larger area than the 
background, then first color listed is sugges¬ 
tion for the costume, and second one for the 
background. 

Again may I repeat, these are not hard and 
fast rules for color selection, they are merely 
suggestions. How well you adapt them or any 
others depends as much upon your under¬ 
standing of intensities and values as upon the 
hue or color used. 


BRILLIANT COLOR COMBINATIONS 


Largest Area 

Second Largest 

Small Accents 

Dark Green 

Gold 

Spectral Red 

Gold 

Blue 

Vermilion 

Blue 

Turquoise 

Scarlet Red 

SOFTER COLOR COMBINATIONS 


Delft Blue 

Gold 

Rich Dark 

Amethyst Purple 
Amethyst Purple 
Apricot 

Blue 

Brown 


Chestnut Brown 

Cream 

Bottle Green 

Beaver Brown 

Sapphire Blue 


Beige 

Peacock Blue 


Sage Green 

Bottle Green 

Gold 

Buff 

Soft Blue 

Rose 

Honey Color 

Emerald Green 


GRAYED COLOR COMBINATIONS 


Gray Blue 

Silver 

Pink 

Pearl Gray 

Dark Cardinal 


Silver 

Sage Green 

Ashes of Roses 

Beige 

Heliotrope 


Cream 

Brown 

Gold 


170 


PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 


My final suggestion is that you plan portrait 
compositions around the head and figure (cos¬ 
tume) as a unit, and that all directional lines 
and color values tend toward drawing the at¬ 
tention to and not away from the head. 

Do not burn up the colors with too much 
intense light and light that is too fiat, unless 
your objective is a decorative composition, as 
previously discussed. While it is true that 
color separation partially eliminates the need 
for the amount of value contrast, or modeling, 
required in black and white work, remember 
that color alone does not express form. Model¬ 
ing must still be done in light and shade, an 
axiom too obvious to need more than mention. 

Above all, put a feeling of art in your por¬ 
trait compositions. Do not follow the tech¬ 
niques of the advertising photographer who is 
obliged to deal with colors that catch the eye, 
in competition with everything else that is 
attempting to capture the reader’s attention. 
A portrait is subjected to no such competition, 
and is a thing to be viewed for itself and itself 
alone. 

Costume and Character Studies 

This phase of color photography offers un¬ 
limited possibilities for imaginative and un¬ 
usual treatment—a free play for your creative 
ability. 

Visualize if you will the color possibilities 
in the two studies Figures 116 and 117. In 
character studies along the line of the first 
study you can base your composition, color 
and lighting on sound portrait principles and 
then add a little exaggeration in all elements. 
That is, you can use more contrasty lighting, 
more intense colors, and greater contrasts in 
color and value. Such studies can border on 
the dignified or they can he “caricatures.” It 
is a fascinating adventure any way you ap¬ 
proach it, and one that gives full scope to 
your dramatic instincts. 

The second illustration (Figure 117) needs 
no interpretation. You can “see” this subject 
in color, and so vividly that you subconscious¬ 
ly reach for your camera to get a color shot of 
the subject before he gets away. 

A more modified costume study is that of 
the three dancing girls shown in one of the 
color plates in this hook. 



“Dick Swiveller” 
Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 



“Entr’ Acte” 

Julian Smith, F.R.P.S. 


For those of you with a creative urge noth¬ 
ing will bring more enjoyment nor offer more 
opportunity for an exercise of your abilities 
than costume and character studies in Koda- 
chrome. 


171 












PORTRAITS, COSTUME STUDIES, STILL LIFE 



a small accent of a near complement, the 
green in the flower foliage. The experi¬ 
ment also tested the color effect secured 
by photographing the principal colors 
through the transparent, color-tinted glass¬ 
ware. 

Still Life Studies 

There is no better way to study and experi¬ 
ment with Kodachrome photography than 
through the creation of still life compositions. 

In still life work you have control over all 
elements of the problem. You can plan, alter, 
try and check your composition as leisurely 
and thoughtfully as you wish. You are not 
continually conscious that the model is getting 
tired or that the sun is at the wrong angle, or 


any one of a dozen other distractions that 
interfere with doing the best work. 

This brief discussion of still life photogra¬ 
phy, in color, has been included in this chap¬ 
ter because there is a kinship between the 
subject and portraiture. One approaches the 
problem in somewhat the same way albeit 
still life has few of the limitations common to 
portrait studies. 

I have no desire to so much as suggest what 
type of still life you try your hand at. I only 
want to remind you that the problem will be 
simplified if you have a clear mental picture 
of your objective before you start. Perhaps 
you are going to create something from the 
standpoint of pure composition, and you will 
use color to help express that. Or you will 
work out a finely balanced color scheme, and 
the choice of objects and their placement will 
be determined by their part in expressing the 
color scheme. Or you may attempt the repro¬ 
duction of some object’s color, texture and 
form, in which case everything else will only 
serve as a setting for that object. 

Going back to painting again, you will pick 
up many helpful ideas from good still life art, 
especially when you view them analytically, 
to determine what the artist’s objective was. 
Do not view such paintings merely as pictures 
but as an artist’s effort to master some prob¬ 
lem. 

I cannot emphasize too strongly some ex¬ 
perimentation with still life studies, if for no 
other reason than to learn something of color 
composition, the reflective power of various 
colors in various intensities and values, and 
above all, to learn how these variations are 
recorded in Kodachrome. 

Kodachrome is your medium, study it as an 
artist studies the effect of his colors. He paints 
with pigments and a brush—you paint with 
colored light and exposures. 


172 













CHAPTER 12 


S O MANY Kodachrome enthusiasts 
are interested in flower photogra¬ 
phy that the subject seems to de¬ 
serve this separate chapter. Even 
though you may not be especially 
interested in this field of photographic subject 
matter, may I urge that you indulge in a little 
study of flowers, not as botanical specimens 
hut as examples of exceptionally stimulating 
color arrangements. Become at least casually 
acquainted with what nature has done in cre¬ 
ating a limitless number of color composi¬ 
tions, for within the world of growing, flower¬ 
ing plants you will find every conceivable 
variation of every color in the spectrum. 

Simplicity seems to be nature’s color key¬ 
note. We are accustomed to think of flowers 
as a kaleidoscopic display of every hue in the 
whole gamut of color. In the aggregate this 
may appear to be true. But when viewed as 
individual specimens the color scheme of any 
one flower is quite simple. A pansy or other 
multi-colored flower may seem to be an excep¬ 
tion, but it is not color rampant in the sense 
that many color photographers apparently 
feel is necessary to create a color picture. 

But while nature has been sparing in the 
number of color hues usually associated, she 
has shown us that infinite variety can be se¬ 
cured through numberless slight variations in 
intensities and values of the two or three hues 
associated. And this association of many vari¬ 
ations of a limited number of hues is always 
a safe basis for color harmony. 

Has it ever occurred to you what phenom¬ 
ena gives color to growing plants, flowers and 
trees? It is an intricate subject, but perhaps 
we can grasp a better appreciation of the ex- 
hilirating beauty of the flower world if we 
explore the elementary aspects of this phe¬ 
nomenon. 


Three groups of color-producing matter 
seem to be responsible for the color in grow¬ 
ing plant life—in flowers, fruits, vegetables 
and trees. It will facilitate your grasp of the 
relationship of the colors within each of these 
groups if you will recall the colors of the three 
dye layers in a Kodachrome transparency. 
You remember that these three colors are Yel¬ 
low, Magenta (red-purple) and Blue-Green. 
These three colors are, as we shall see, the 
more or less dominate ones in the three groups 
of colors found in nature. 

If you will refer to the Color Wheel we will 
divide it into three segments. Each segment 
will represent, roughly, the colors produced 
by one of the color-producing groups before 
mentioned and which will be described later. 
But for the moment let us define the three 
segments on the Color Wheel. One will in¬ 
clude all colors from Red on one side to Blue 
on the other. We will call this Segment No. 1. 
Segment No. 2 includes Blue-Green, Green 
and Green-Yellow. Segment No. 3 is Yellow 
and Yellow-Red. 

In plant life the color group included in 
Segment No. I is known as the anthocyans, a 
word which means “flower-blues.” In a free 
state the anthocyans are purple, but in the 
broad coverage the group also includes the 
adjacent colors of red-purple and red on the 
one side and purple-blue and blue on the 
other. This color-producing matter, or pig¬ 
ment, is in solution in the cell sap, and certain 
chemical actions seem to determine whether 
these anthocyan pigments appear as blues or 
reds. Certain acid conditions cause the “basic” 
purple to swing toward the blues, and an 
alkali condition tends to create reds. 

In the second group, represented by Seg¬ 
ment No. 2 we find the greens and the adja¬ 
cent intermediate colors of blue-green and 
green-yellow. This color-producing matter is 


173 


PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 


known as chlorophyl, which means “leaf- 
green.” 

The third and most limited group is Seg¬ 
ment No. 3, the yellows and yellow-reds, and 
all their variations. This group is known as 
xanthein colors, which means yellow. While 
this group may be limited in extent of color 
hues, it is found profusely in fruits and all 
kinds of flowering plants. 

It is an interesting fact that while the antho- 
cyan pigments are in solution and flow freely 
in the sap, the chlorophyl and xanthein pig¬ 
ments are a part of the plant tissue. 

From the standpoint of color balance it is 
more than significant that the anthocyan pig¬ 
ments, or flower colors, are roughly comple¬ 
mentary to the chlorophyls, or foliage colors. 
There are many flowering plants whose basic 
color scheme is as simple as this: A red-purple 
blossom, green leaves, and a yellow accent in 
the stamens. In such simplicity the two com¬ 
plementary colors dominate in color mass, 
while the third color is subordinated in area 
if not in intensity. 

Another characteristic is that where an 
anthocyan color predominates, the chlorophyl 
is not present at all or tends to disappear. On 
the other hand, where chlorophyl appears 
there is little or no evidence or anthocyanins. 
When a flower loses one of the chief factors 
which produce this anthocyan color matter, 
but retains the others, the resulting deficiency 
produces an albino, or white flower. 

There are cases where both anthocyanins 
and chlorophyl are present in the same part 
of the plant. The result is much the same as 
if you mixed any two complementary or near 
complementary colors. They tend to destroy 
each other, and in so doing produce a gray. 
This “annihilation” of color through the ad¬ 
mixture of complementary colors is called 
“achromatism.” We see evidence of this action 
in some tree leaves which are brilliant leaf 
green on the top side, to the sun, but a rather 
grayed green underneath. You have noticed 
this grayed effect when a strong wind turns 
the under sides of the leaves toward you. 

We see the transition of color through the 
replacing of one color-producing property hv 
another as a fruit or flower develops. For in¬ 
stance, chlorophyl predominates in flower 
buds and in unripe fruit but as the blossom 
or fruit matures this chlorophyl gives way to 


the anthocyan or xanthein pigments. We often 
find more subtle transitions present at the 
same time in such instances as a green leaf 
whose stem color delicately blends from the 
green of the leaf into the red-purple of the 
stem where it grows out of the vine or hush, 
as in certain species of roses. Nature has 
further seen to it that color harmony is main¬ 
tained by altering the green of flower foliage 
to a better balance with the blossom color. 
This difference is especially apparent in such 
flowers as the iris, where we find foliage of 
one kind of green associated with the yellow 
iris and quite a different kind of green leaf 
with the purple iris. 

In our study of flowers we find all of the 
“types” of color compositions we have dis¬ 
cussed in the preceding pages. There are such 
simple two-color combinations as the dande¬ 
lion, with its extremely intense yellow flower 
contrasted with a green foliage of less inten¬ 
sity and lower value. Then there are three- 
color combinations—the leaf green of the tu¬ 
lip foliage contrasted with the brilliant mass 
of color that is the blossom, with an accent of 
a third color in the throat of the flower. These 
and others like them are contrasting color 
schemes. 

In an equally extensive variety we find re¬ 
lated color combinations, like the foliage and 
flower of a blue delphinium, or the sky-blue 
morning-glory. Regardless of whether a flow¬ 
er’s color scheme is a contrasting or related 
one, you will usually find that third and 
fourth colors are but a mixture, in some pro¬ 
portion, of the foliage and blossom colors. 
(Color accents such as stamens, pistils, etc., 
excepted.) This relationship of colors, in any 
color arrangement, established through creat¬ 
ing “new” colors by admixture of the princi¬ 
pal ones in a composition is one of the secrets 
of color harmony, whether in nature or in a 
costume. 

Another characteristic that has a definite 
hearing upon the color quality of flowers is 
that of surface texture. Different textures of 
the same color have a different color quality 
due to the variations in power of surface re¬ 
flection. We discussed that aspect of color 
early in the hook. 

Some flower petals are dull and light absor¬ 
bent, a property of surface texture rather than 
of the color itself. Hard, shiny or waxy sur- 


174 


PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 


119 

In garden shots in which 
there is little color sepa¬ 
ration between areas, 
some side-lighting will 
define the areas and 
strengthen the composi¬ 
tion. 



faced flowers seem to reflect the greatest inten¬ 
sity of color. A good example of a dull, vel¬ 
vety texture is a purple petunia; a begonia 
represents a type of surface that is “hard” and 
highly reflective. 

So much for this phase of our study of 
flowers. It may seem that this little side ex¬ 
ploration has slight connection with flower 
photography in color. But in a broader sense, 
any effort that helps you become better ac¬ 
quainted with your photographic subject es¬ 
tablishes a sympathetic understanding that 
not only increases the further enjoyment of 
your association with the subject but also re¬ 
sults in finer photographic results. In short, 
the more you “see” in a subject the more you 
are likely to get out of it, photographically. 
And this is especially true in color work. 

Photoyrupliiny Flowers in Sunliyht 

Flowers are excellent subjects for color 
photography for several reasons. Your interest 
may be prompted by your love for flowers, or 
by your desire to faithfully record some floral 
display that has given you especial enjoyment, 
or you may look upon them only as sources of 
fascinating color schemes. 

Whatever your interest, flower photography 
in color offers more angles of approach than 


almost any other type of subject. You can 
make studies of individual specimens, or of 
arrangements, or of large expanses of massed 
color. But what is most important—you have 
an unusual opportunity to utilize more variety 
in light angles because you are working with 
a translucent or semi-translucent substance. 

What other type of color subject offers such 
flexibility of technique? When you side- or 
back-light any opaque object that object par¬ 
tially blocks out the source of light, with con¬ 
sequent loss in color brilliance in the Koda- 
chrome result. When you photograph most 
flower subjects in side- or back-light, you are 
using transmitted light, with a resulting in¬ 
crease in the intensity of all color through 
which the light is transmitted. In such light 
your lens sees the flowers in the same kind 
of light that gives brilliance to a Kodachrome 
transparency—that of light coming through 
the color substance. The comparison stops 
short, of course, because a flower is not as 
completely transparent as is a Kodachrome 
transparency. But the principal involved is 
the same. 

Which brings us to the question as to how 
to get maximum color intensity in our Koda¬ 
chrome shots of flowers. 


175 


PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 



120 

Black and white repro¬ 
duction of the Color 
Plate on page 179. Back¬ 
lighting was used to in¬ 
crease the color intensi¬ 
ty of the flowers through 
transmitted light. 


Flowers or Gardens at a Distance 

The garden scene shown in Figure 119 de¬ 
pends for interest more upon form and pat¬ 
tern than upon brilliant splashes of flower 
color. The overall color is various kinds and 
shades of green, with very little massing of 
flower color except in the border at the right. 
The only question here is to determine the 
angle of light that will make the most of the 
formal pattern of the garden without degrad¬ 
ing the overall clean, sunshiny color of the 
scene. 

We have just suggested, by inference at 
least, that strong side- or back-lighting is 
preferable for flower shots. But it depends 
upon the character of the subject. For a gar¬ 
den shot this scene is rather expansive. If it 
had been photographed in flat light, the forms 
would have “run together” for there is little 
strong color separation in the scene. When 
color contrasts are absent, value separation is 
imperative. 

If back-light had been used the shadow 
areas on the hedges, for instance, would have 
been larger than the areas in full light. The 
result would have been a “blackish” effect 
across which cut hands of green. This would 
have destroyed the general color quality of 
everything in the scene except the border of 


flowers at the right, and you will agree that 
this area is decidedly secondary to the main 
theme of the picture, which is, obviously, the 
formal garden as a unit. 

As you can see from the reproduction, the 
light angle used was about a 25% side-light. 
This gave soft modeling to the hedges and 
trees, and the side-light angle was so slight 
that there are no dead shadows and no loss of 
color in the shadow areas at any point except 
right at the ground line, which is not objec¬ 
tionable. 

There is nothing unusual about this prob¬ 
lem nor the result. It is presented only as a 
suggestion that there is one best light angle 
for every color problem. 

Using Transmitted Light 

It is unfortunate that text and color illus¬ 
tration cannot always appear together, but if 
you will refer to the color plate of the flower 
border, garden wall and young lady, you will 
notice that an entirely different light angle 
was employed from that used in Figure 119. 

We might analyze this color shot briefly. 
The largest flower color mass is the white one 
in the foreground. If you have tried photo¬ 
graphing white flowers you know that it is 
practically impossible to hold any detail in 


176 


PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 


121 

An excellent example of the use of trans¬ 
mitted light on close-up flower shots. Note 
that the tulip blossoms are back-lighted, 
a lighting technique that greatly intensi¬ 
fies the local color of such transparent 
subjects as these flowers. 



them under flat light. If you attempt to hold 
detail through extremely short exposure the 
modeling will appear quite hluish; a result 
of sky reflection. 

It was rather necessary to use these white 
flowers in the foreground of this composition 
because most of the other color areas were 
predominantly green and low in value. Cover 
the white flowers in the reproduction and the 
composition lacks the value contrast it should 
have to create a feeling of sunshine. Also, the 
white flowers seem to add color intensity to all 
other colors in the composition. 

The shadows on the figure and the garden 
wall give a clue as to the angle of light. The 
sun was high and to the right, about in line 
with the direction suggested by the stepping 
stones. The sun being high, flooded the com¬ 
position with good top light. And by being 
in front and a little to the right, the angle of 
light produced soft modeling on the white 
flowers, and there was a sufficient amount of 
light transmitted through the flowers directly 
in front of the figure and in those being held 
by the young lady to greatly intensify their 
color over what would have been true in flat 
light. 

A reflector was used to keep the shadow side 
of the figure from going too dark and color¬ 
less. The reflector was small so its light did 
not appreciably affect anything but the figure. 

Even though the pansy border was not get¬ 
ting as much “transmitted” light as the taller 


flowers, their color brilliance was enhanced 
by what little back-lighting they did get. 

If this garden shot had been a flower border 
of masses of brilliant flowers like the tall yel¬ 
low ones against the wall, I would recommend 
an even more direct back-lighting of the 
flowers, for maximum color saturation. In 
doing so we would sacrifice some brilliance in 
the foliage, for more of it would be in shadow 
and most flower foliage transmits but little if 
any light. Also, in stronger back-lighting the 
wall and bushes beyond would be unpleas¬ 
antly dark in value. But the suggestion for 
stronger back-lighting applies only to the 
problem of getting the greatest color satura¬ 
tion in the flower blossoms. I mention this in 
connection with this shot only for a com¬ 
parison with some light angle you may want 
to use when the blossoms of flowers may oc¬ 
cupy all or practically all of your composition. 

Camera Angles 

The color composition we have been talking 
about includes so many elements besides the 
relatively small area occupied by the flowers 
that this subject is hardly a fair suggestion 
for camera angles. But before we discuss other 
angles it may not be amiss to state what deter¬ 
mined camera angle in this composition. The 
factors that were considered in this case were 
(1) the desire to “look into” the blossoms as 
much as possible without losing the benefit of 
(Continued on page 181) 

177 





PHOTOGRAPHING GARDENS IN COLOR 


In the pages immediately preceding, the desirability of hack- or partial back-lighting of 
flower studies done in Kodachrome has been stressed repeatedly, but not too emphatically. 
Flowers are one of the few color subjects in which the colors are intensified by back-lighting. 
That is unless the particular flower is opaque, and will not transmit light freely. 

You know how much more brilliant the color of a Kodachrome transparency is than a full 
color paper print made from the transparency. Transmitted light creates the brilliance in the 
transparency’s color. The print must be viewed by reflected light—flat light. 

This same law applies to any colored transparent or semi-transparent material. 

The garden illustration shown here does not contain a riot of color, but the colors in the 
flower border, and in those held by the model, are more intense in color than they would have 
been in flat light. Much intensity of color is lost in reproduction, you appreciate. Further, the 
foreground white blossoms would have been “washed out” in flat light. 

The position of the sun is indicated by the lighting on the model. The shadow side of the 
figure was lighted with a portable reflector, similar to the roll-up type described in Chapter 9. 

Data: Exposed on 8x10 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Eastman View; Lens, 12 inch 
Anastigmat. The reproduction is four color process, letterpress, plates made direct from the 
transparency. 


178 































































































































































PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 


transmitted light, and (2) the desire to make 
as much out of the sweep of the foreground 
directional lines as possible. 

Going back to the supposition that this 
might have been a closely planted border of 
massed flowers, and without regard to any 
other part of the composition, I would suggest 
a slightly lower camera angle, to see the blos¬ 
soms as a mass of color and to avoid too many 
“holes” in the flower masses like the almost 
objectionable openness of the second group 
of white flowers. 

The reproduction of the tulip border shows 
a good, low angle for massing color. This was 
especially true in this case as the shorter 
stemmed flowers were all one color and the 
taller ones all another color. If the camera 
angle had looked down into such a border the 
color result would have been a confusion of 
conglomerate color. If on the other hand this 
had been a bed of low-growing, closely-massed 
flowers a sharp downward camera angle would 
hold the effect of color mass better than would 
a low angle, of course. 

The kind of flower, the character of the 
planting, and the impression you are trying 
to create all influence choice of camera angle, 
and you will have little difficulty in deter¬ 
mining the one best angle after a little study 
of each problem. 

Close-up Studies of Flowers 

Again our technique must he adapted to 
the problem. If you are photographing an 
isolated group of blossoms such as three or 
four spikes of iris, by all means use a side 
and back-light angle. By that we mean have 
the sun in front of the camera, hut somewhat 
to the side at whatever angle gives the greatest 
color intensity. If you are using a ground 
glass focusing camera you can easily detect 
the angle of fullest use of transmitted light by 
studying the image on the ground glass. If 
you are using any other type of camera I 
suggest that you roll a piece of cardboard into 
a sharp angle cone, and study the blossoms 
at camera distance through this cone. You 
will be able to see the flowers with a more 
critical eye if you block out all surrounding 
extraneous objects. 

Too often an otherwise beautiful close-up 
flower shot is spoiled by a confusing back¬ 
ground, more than likely an out-of-focus one 


if you are working at a fast shutter speed and 
large lens opening. The simplest solution to 
the problem is to use a large cardboard as a 
background, about two feet or so behind the 
flowers, or if the card is not large enough to 
fill the frame of your picture, use a large 
piece of fabric held or hung behind the 
flowers. If fabric is used stretch it to eliminate 
bad wrinkles or folds, or have it sufficiently 
out of focus so that such folds will be softened. 

The color intensity and value of the back¬ 
ground will have much to do with the effec¬ 
tiveness of your color result. If you are shoot¬ 
ing very sharply back-lighted, the value of the 
background, regardless of its color, will go 
much darker than you may desire for this 
background will also be back-lighted unless 
the sun is so nearly overhead that the back¬ 
ground can be lighted by a slight backward 
tilt. 

Another aspect of this background problem 
is the choice of one of a color, intensity and 
value that will enhance the color of the 
flowers. The most dramatic effects are secured 
by using a background color that is comple¬ 
mentary, or nearly so, to the color of the 
flowers. For still further emphasis on the 
dramatic, the value of the background should 
be in contrast to the value of the flowers. 
That is, use a background of slightly darker 
value than the flowers for light value flowers, 
and vice versa. A typical illustration of con¬ 
trast in color, intensity and value would be 
brilliant yellow flowers against a grayed pur¬ 
ple-blue background of slightly darker than 
medium value. Remember that a background 
of darker value than the flowers will go darker 
than it appears to the eye if your exposure is 
based on the yellow flowers, for the back¬ 
ground will be on the underexposed side. If 
you were photographing a spike of dark blue 
delphinium, a good background would be a 
light tan or weak yellow. 

In any event the background should be less 
intense in color than the color of the flowers, 
to keep the proper relationship between in¬ 
tensities and areas—the rule of “twice the 
area, half the intensity,” etc. 

Photographing individual 
Flower Specimens 

Such studies are extreme close-ups, of 
course. This fact makes it advisable to use 
the most diffused light we can find, or create, 


181 


PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 



iOO A light diffusing box for use in photo- 

• graphing growing flower specimens out¬ 

doors in full sunlight. A light frame cov¬ 
ered with regular diffusing cloth. 

in order to hold local color and subtle model¬ 
ing. If there is any subject that contrasty 
lighting will ruin more surely than close-up 
flower studies I have never encountered it. 

The best light condition, without benefit of 
gadgets, is an overcast sky—not so light as to 
produce strong shadows—not so heavy as to 
create an excessively “blue” light condition. 
Insofar as shadows go, the angle at which you 
work to the light source will help you control 
this problem. But if you desire both good 
color saturation and soft modeling you will 
be quite fortunate if you find many days when 
the overcast creates the character of light one 
needs. Besides, why wait for such an infre¬ 
quent condition if we can manufacture a bet¬ 
ter one, for use when and where we please. 

The gadget illustrated is for use in full sun¬ 
light. It is simply an adaptation of the diffus¬ 
ing screen idea described in the chapter on 
“Reflectors and Diffusers.” It is a “box” of 
light framework over which is stretched dif¬ 
fusing cloth, closed on top and three sides. 
The cloth need not extend to the ground as 
the device will not work successfully when the 
sun is extremely low. If you wish, the back 
side can be a lightweight plywood on which 
you can thumb-tack background cardboards. 

The diffuser frame should be of ample 
dimensions, to allow plenty of working room 
at any angle. The light is better diffused when 
the box sides are not too close to the flower 


specimen and the possibility of cloth texture 
shadows is also eliminated. 

Should you wish to shorten the value scale 
of the flower specimen still further, you can 
introduce the idea of a diffuser and reflector 
combination, the principle of which was illus¬ 
trated in the chapter just mentioned. You can 
use a white card as a reflector, placing it on 
the inside of the diffuser frame opposite the 
side from which the light is entering the dif¬ 
fuser box. The angle of the card will depend 
upon the angle of light and upon what shadow 
areas you want filled in. 

All this paraphernalia may seem a little 
cumbersome, but the effort in construction 
and use will be amply rewarded with the 
finest of color results. By-product advantages 
of this device are that it is protection against 
all but strong wind, and it permits photo¬ 
graphing the flower specimen without cutting, 
so you do not have to hurry for fear the flower 
will wilt. It is my observation that specimen 
studies have a feeling of naturalness when 
photographed growing that one seldom se¬ 
cures with cut flowers. 

Photogrttphing Flowers by 
Artificial Light 

You are doubtless familiar with no end of 
lighting diagrams for photographing flowers 
in black and white by artificial light. In fact 
you can refer to the diagrams in the chapter 
on “Photofloods” for suggestions of conven¬ 
tional lighting arrangements. 

But all such diagrams assume that the sub¬ 
ject is “opaque,” and that all light by which 
the exposure is made is light reflected back 
from the subject. Since most flower petals and 
some flower foliage are semi-transparent we 
have a new factor, for color work, that ordi¬ 
nary lighting diagrams do not consider. That 
factor is transmitted light. We should make 
all possible use of it in flower photography— 
even to a greater degree than has been sug¬ 
gested for outdoor work. And you have 
greater opportunity for effective use of trans¬ 
mitted light with artificial light sources than 
in sunlight. 

It is rather difficult to outline definite light¬ 
ing set-ups for flower studies because every 
type of flower presents a different problem. 
But if you wish to get maximum color satura¬ 
tion, place the strongest light source behind 


182 















PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 



123 


A simple lighting arrangement for photo¬ 
graphing flowers with artificial light illu¬ 
mination. A side light will open up 
shadows created by the stronger front 
light. A reflector will help create a feeling 
of luminosity in flowers that are quite 
transparent. 



124 


Back-lighting of flower studies will in¬ 
crease color intensity in blossoms that 
transmit light readily, in the same way 
transmitted sunlight does. Since a single 
light behind the flowers will create dead 
shadows on the camera side of foliage, a 
front light is needed to open them up. 


and to one side of the subject. A narrow angle 
reflector is preferable, to force as much light 
through the flower petals as possible. Base 
your exposure on this transmitted light. Then 
turn off this back-light and flood the subject 
with a front light in a flatter reflector. Now 
with your light meter determine the distance 
at which this front light should be set so that 
an exposure by it alone would be one full f/ 
stop more than the back-lighting alone calls 
for. This front light will kill all hard front 
shadows. 

Such “transmitted” light arrangements are 
solely for the purpose of securing maximum 
color saturation. Whether they give the type 
of modeling you prefer is something you will 
have to determine through experimentation. 

Do not forget the importance of back¬ 
grounds. Select such as will accentuate and 
enhance the color of the flowers. And follow 
the same rules of intensity and value previ¬ 
ously discussed. If the front light does not 
provide sufficient background illumination 
(and it seldom will), use a background light 
from below or to one side, depending upon 
which way you prefer to have the tone grada¬ 
tion of the background blend off. 

If the flowers you are photographing do not 
lend themselves to this transmitted light tech¬ 
nique, the best results will be secured under 
diffused light. 


As a start on light placement (and at least 
two lights should be used), first place the 
principal and strongest light in front and to 
one side. Then fill in the shadows with a 
weaker side light, or if same size lamps are 
being used, pull this secondary light back 
from the subject to reduce its effective vol¬ 
ume. Now set up a hinged white card on the 
side of the flowers opposite the principal light. 
This card will reflect back onto the flowers 
and will open up some shadow areas the sec¬ 
ondary light may not reach. To soften the 
lights, hang a piece of diffusing (or similar) 
cloth over or in front of the two lamp reflec¬ 
tors. Then make your meter reading and cal¬ 
culate exposure. 

In most such setups the background will re¬ 
quire separate lighting, but it will not affect 
your exposure unless it is too close to the 
flowers and too strongly lighted. 

Using PhotofUish 

I would not recommend photoflash for in¬ 
door flower photography because of the diffi¬ 
culty in determining the best placement of 
lights for the quality of delicate modeling 
flower studies demand. One exception might 
be if one uses small photofloods to arrange 
the lighting, and then replaces them with 
photoflash for the exposure. Flash does elimi¬ 
nate the hazard of wilting the flowers under 


183 





PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS AND GARDENS 


any prolonged impact of pliotoflood lights. 
If you make flash exposures you can only 
follow an exposure table for light distance, 
diaphragm opening, etc., for the type of flash 
lamp being used. 

Synchronized flash in sunlight can, of 
course, be used in flower photography in the 
same way one would employ it on any other 
outdoor subject. But if flash is used for sup¬ 
plementary light, be sure you do not burn 
out delicate, high-keyed flower colors by over¬ 


lighting. Personally I prefer to use a reflector 
so that the effect of the supplementary light 
can be predetermined. 

***** * * 

If this chapter has stimulated a new or in¬ 
creased interest in flower photography in 
color, and has helped you see nature as the 
marvelous source of color inspiration it is, 
your enjoyment of this phase of Kodachrome 
adventures will he long and satisfying. 


Exposure Compensation for Photographing Close-up Objects 

(Without Front or Supplemental Lenses) 


Many is the time color workers wish to do close-up 
shots of such objects as individual specimens, but are 
uncertain as to what procedure is required to get best 
results. The old rule “open up for close-ups” is the 
right idea, but a trifle too indefinite, especially for 
color work. 

Theoretically, whenever you focus on any object 
closer than eight (8) times the focal length of your 
lens, you should make some exposure compensation 
for the increased LENS-TO-FILM distance. The closer 
you work to the object, the more imperative the com¬ 
pensation. 

For instance, when lens-to-film distance is 5 inches 
and you are using a 4 inch lens, 6*4 inches with a 5 
inch lens, or 10 inches with an 8 inch lens, you should 
use one-half (V 2 ) larger f/ stop than “normal” ex¬ 
posure. If lens-to-film distance is equal to lens-to- 
object distance, you are obliged to increase “normal” 
exposure by four (4) times. 

You can readily figure what compensation must be 
made, in all cases, by the following formula: 

f/ stop Focal length of lens f/ stop 

“Normal” TIMES - EQUALS to be 

Exposure Lens-to-film distance Used 

To work out two typical examples: 

Indicated f/ stop 

f/ stop to be used 

4" Lens 

f/ 8 X -= f’/ 6-1—approximately 1.5 

5" L-to-F normal exposure 

5" Lens 

f/16 X -= f/ 8 or 4 times “normal” exposure 

10" L-to-F 


(NOTE: Most published formulas reverse the fraction 
portion of the equation—putting lens-to-film distance (as 
numerator) over focal length of lens (as denominator). This 
gives you the “effective aperture” calculation, from which 
you have to determine either the necessary increase in ex¬ 
posure interval or larger f/ stop opening.) 

It is usually not practicable to make the exposure 
compensation by increasing the f/ stop opening, for 
the closer you work to the object, the less depth of 
focus you have at any given stop. For instance, if you 
focus a 4" lens on an object 10 feet distant, at f/II 
you will hold reasonably sharp focus on all objects 
from 7' 6" to 15'. But if you focus on an object 3 feet 
distant, at f/II you will hold reasonable sharpness only 
from 2' 9" to 3' 4", or a depth of only 7". 

Obviously, the better strategy is to use smallest pos¬ 
sible f/ stop and increase the exposure time interval. 
You make the calculation to find how much exposure 
increase is necessary. If it is twice “normal,” make the 
shot at 1/5 second instead of 1/10, or 1 second instead 
of J /2 second, and so on. 

It is often helpful to know the relation of image 
size (on the film) to object size, especially if one is 
using other than a ground glass focusing camera. 
These relationships are roughly: 


When Lens-to-Film 
Distance is 

*4 more than focal length of lens 
Vz more than focal length of lens 
Double the focal length of lens . 

3 times the focal length of lens . 

4 times the focal length of lens . 


Image size, in relation to 
object size is (approx.) 

• 14 object size 

• 14 object size 

. Equal, or actual size 
. 2 times actual size 
. 3 times actual size 


Film Speetl Decreases Cutler Prolongetl Exposure 


This problem arises when exposure times are from 
10 to 15 seconds and up. Kodachrome, like most film, 
is rated as to speed for instantaneous exposures-—1 
second or shorter. Type “A” has a Weston rating of 
12; Type “B” is Weston 6. But if you are doing a 
close-up shot of a small object—so close that image 
size on the film is % to actual size of the object, not 
only should you make exposure allowance to compen¬ 
sate for the relations of lens-to-object and lens-to-film 
distances, as explained above, but you will get better 
results if you arbitrarily decrease the film speed rating 
progressively as you prolong the exposure interval. 


There are no tables or graphs for this compensation. 
I can only give you the result of my own experience, 
which is this: 

For exposures of 10 to 20 seconds decrease film 
speed one-fourth (%), to Weston 9 (Type “A”), 
Weston 5 (Type “B”) ; for exposures of 20 to 40 sec¬ 
onds decrease film speed one-third (%), to Weston 8 
(Type “A”), Weston 4 (Type “B”) ; and for exposures 
of 40 seconds to 2 or 3 minutes decrease film speed 
one-half (%), to Weston 6 (Type “A”), Weston 3 
(Type “B”). 


184 





CHAPTER 13 


SUNSETS, SPECIAL EFFECTS, TRICK SHOTS 


Y OU will, I trust, be tolerant of 
the rather unrelated subject 
matter of this chapter. In con¬ 
structing a book on a subject 
that has as many facets as does 
Kodachrome photography, one is likely to 
find stray “pieces” of the subject left over 
after everything has been classified and put 
in its proper niche. 

But that need not indicate that these un¬ 
classified items have no interest nor effective 
possibilities for real adventurers in color pho¬ 
tography. 

Sunsets and Sunrises 

One of the most fascinating of out-of-the- 
ordinary color subjects is sunsets, or sunrises, 
if you have those early rising hahits which 
Benjamin Franklin recommended so highly. 
In my limited experience with problems of 
color photography at such an unholy hour, I 
am inclined to believe that sunrises can easily 
surpass sunsets in sheer beauty. Early morn¬ 
ing atmosphere is usually clearer than the 
evening air. The evening haze may add a 
pleasing overall glow to an interesting cloud 
sky at sunset, but given equally good cloud 
formations in the morning, sunrise colors are 
more brilliant and more sharply defined. 

Perhaps my sunrise experience is too lim¬ 
ited to be of much value, but the only fault I 


have found with such effects is that they do 
not last for the extended duration common to 
the average sunset. Sunrises seem to build up 
rapidly and then “explode” in one grand burst 
of gorgeous color. Another instant and the 
effect is gone, swallowed up in the light of 
day. The finest sunrise I ever photographed 
faded so rapidly that I could not change cut 
film holders quick enough to get a second shot. 

On the assumption that your primary in¬ 
terest is in the evening rather than the early 
hours of the day, you will prefer some sug¬ 
gestions on Kodachrome exposures of sunsets. 

If you have a light meter, make readings 
directly toward the sun when and after it 
reaches a point some 10 degrees above the 
horizon. To play safe open up y 2 stop more 
than the meter reading indicates, especially 
if there is any time interval between the read¬ 
ing and the exposure, as the light rapidly 
weakens as the sun approaches the horizon. 

If no meter is used, and if the sky and 
clouds are getting direct light from an un¬ 
obscured sun, the following table can he used 
with good average results. Your exposures 
need not be as accurate on sunsets as on most 
color subjects because either over- or under¬ 
exposure, to any reasonable degree, will still 
produce a beautiful effect. Overexposure will 
result in more delicate coloring and a feeling 
of more light than was present. Underexpo¬ 
sure will produce an opposite result, of course. 


SUNSET EXPOSURES 


Light Condition 35 mm. and Bantam 

Sun 5 to 10 degrees above the horizon. 1/25 at f/8-f/16 

Sun at the horizon. 1/25 at f/3.5-f/5 

Afterglow, just after the sun has gone. 1/10 at f/4.5-f/7 

Afterglow, 15-30 minutes after sunset. 1/2 at f/3.5-f/5 

* At half spe«d, 8 frames a second. 


Movies 
at f/7-f/16 
at f/4.5-f/5 
at f/3.2 
at f/1.9* * 


Cut Film 
1/25 at f/9-f/ll 
1/25 at f/4.5-f/6.3 
1/10 at f/4.5-f/6.3 
1/2 at f/4.5-f/5.6 


185 







SUNSETS, SPECIAL EFFECTS, TRICK SHOTS 



125 

All good sunsets are ex¬ 
cellent Kodachrome sub¬ 
jects, and especially so if 
they can be shot across 
water, to add interest 
and pattern to the fore¬ 
ground which might 
otherwise be an indis¬ 
tinguishable dark, color¬ 
less mass. 


There is such a wide range of light volume 
in sunsets that you should analyze them in 
terms of “average,” or “lighter” or “darker” 
than average, in the same way you judge sub¬ 
jects in full sunlight. If the color is weak and 
high key, use the smaller f/ stops recom¬ 
mended. If the sunset is one of deep color, 
with dark reds, heavy blues and purples, use 
the larger of the f/ stops given. If average, 
work somewhere in between the extremes in¬ 
dicated. 

Sunsets across water have more life and 
interest because sky illumination will give the 
water a sufficient exposure to make it a defi¬ 
nite, but secondary, part of the picture. If 
you catch the sun at the horizon its reflection 
across the expanse of water adds a directional 
line and a feeling of perspective. 

Or better still, silhouette a foreground tree 
or other object that can be recognized in sil¬ 
houette. This foreground pattern will break 
up the emptiness of the picture where there is 
little or no color, and will add “depth” and 
distance. 

Rainbows 

We color shooters are always chasing rain¬ 
bows but seldom do we capture a good shot 


of one. About the only suggestion I can offer 
is that you deliberately underexpose such 
shots. Use an exposure of y 2 to 1 full f/ stop 
smaller than you think correct. If such stop 
underexposes the balance of the scene so 
much the better, for it will only add to the 
dramatics of the effect, and will focus all the 
attention on the rainbow, which is, after all, 
the picture. 

Electric Signs 

Street scenes in which there are large 
splashes of neon signs are intriguing color 
subjects, especially if the shot tells some kind 
of story. If you are interested only in catching 
an effect of lights the shot can be made any 
time after dark, but if you want a better 
record of the whole scene, make the shot 
while there is still some twilight and just after 
the lights come on. In this way you can hold 
good form in buildings and often some color 
in the sky, and all with no sacrifice in the 
effect of the lights except that they will not 
show the extreme contrast of a shot after dark. 

No exposure suggestions will help much as 
each scene presents its own problem. It is 
better to work toward overexposure, or rather 


186 




SUNSETS, SPECIAL EFFECTS, TRICK SHOTS 


for more exposure than you suspect is neces¬ 
sary, for you are working with very weak 
light in comparison with sunlight. The scene 
seems light, it is true, but in reality very 
little light is present. 

Whether you use Daylight or Artificial 
Light type Kodachrome is very much a matter 
of taste. Remember you are, primarily, pho¬ 
tographing a light source instead of light re¬ 
flected from a color object. For instance, if a 
green neon sign is a principal foreground 
color spot, the Daylight type film will record 
it as such. If an individual is standing near 
such sign, that individual’s flesh tones will 
record as greenish regardless of the type of 
film used, although there will be a slight 
difference in the “kind” of green recorded. 

Colored Light Sources 

Brief mention has been made previously of 
the use of colored light for backgrounds or 
to add a cool or warm cast to some area in a 
composition. 

But there are still further adventures that 
offer promise of dramatic and artistic color 
effects. With the use of colored cellophane or 
gelatine sheets over light sources, you can 
create any color effect desired. If you under¬ 
take such experiments go all the way in 
creating a dramatic effect. Get entirely away 
from realism. Do not attempt to keep natural 
local color in one area of the composition 
while you light the rest of it with colored 
lights. This spot of “naturalness” will either 
detract from the full effect of the unnatural 
color portions of the compositions, or the 
reverse. When you have realism in such a 
composition your eye and brain tries to adjust 
everything else in the composition to this 
“known” quantity. 

Create illusions or moods with your colored 
lights in the same way stage lighting is han¬ 
dled for especially dramatic scenes in “unreal” 
color. 

This phase of color photography has been 
ignored by professional and amateur alike, 
and probably because we are all so strongly 
influenced by a fixed idea that color shots are 
not good color pictures unless they are rigidly 
realistic. Painters produce some of their most 
effective results by painting the subject in a 
color key that is different than both the color 
of the subject and the color of the light source. 


Many miniature camera enthusiasts, using 
fast lenses, capture excellent Kodachrome 
shots of theatrical performances in very “un¬ 
real” light, but it never occurs to them that 
they can create the same or better “colored” 
light conditions in their own homes. 

This “painting with colored lights” is a 
phase of color photography that should stimu¬ 
late your imagination and creative instincts. 

Moonlight Effects 

The use of a blue light source at night, in 
line with the suggestions just made, can create 
an illusion of moonlight. One simple idea is 
to place a figure in an open window or door¬ 
way and light it both from outdoors and in¬ 
doors with blue light. Use the stronger light 
outside at a height that will suggest a moon 
90 degrees or so above the horizon. Then 
place the indoor light to open up the shadow 
side of the scene, hut keep the volume of this 
light below that of the outside light, either 
by using a smaller lamp or at greater distance. 
A little experimenting with lights and figure 
position can produce some effective results. 

Perhaps you have had the urge to capture 
outdoor moonlight effects. You can do it but 
not by moonlight. If you recall the diagram 
showing the color sensitivity of Artificial 
Light type Kodachrome you remember that 
the film is much more sensitive to blue than 
to reds and yellows. In consequence Artificial 
Light type Kodachrome used in Daylight with¬ 
out a conversion filter seems to record only 
blue. Of course, the other colors register in a 
degree but the visual effect is predominantly 
blue. 

When shooting moonlight effects it is safest 
to select subjects that one usually considers 
most interesting by moonlight, such as a lake 
under a moonlit cloud sky, with the moon 
partly obscured by a passing cloud, but still 
casting a light reflection across the water. 
Follow the same pattern in daylight, with a 
partially obscured sun, and shoot at some 
angle toward the sun that will include it in 
the composition, and at the same time create 
an interesting light pattern on the water. 

You can use Artificial Light type Koda¬ 
chrome on such shots without a filter hut I 
have secured a better feeling of moonlight 
color quality by using an Eastman CC15 or 
Harrison Cl filter. 


187 


SUNSETS, SPECIAL EFFECTS, TRICK SHOTS 


This kind of color shooting is purely a 
stunt, but one that has possibilities which few 
color enthusiasts have recognized. Give such 
shots about the same to y 2 f/ stop more ex¬ 
posure than you would give the same scene 
with Daylight type Kodachrome. 

Stereo Color Shots 

A common remark is that projected Koda¬ 
chrome transparencies seem to have a third 
dimension quality. This is due in most scenes 
to “color perspective.” We know that distant 
hills have a color feeling of distance not con¬ 
veyed as realistically by the monochromatic 
tones of a black and white. 

But real, or exaggerated, third dimension 
can only he secured through employment of 
the old stereo idea which fascinated the aver¬ 
age American household a generation ago. 
The popularity of those stereo outfits is evi¬ 
dence that our emotional demands are not 
fully satisfied short of full realism in pictures, 
and no two-dimension reproduction of a scene 
is as dramatic as one in three dimensions. 

This stereo idea has been revived for the 
35 mm. color worker through the develop¬ 
ment of stereoscopic attachments for use in 
taking, viewing and projecting 35 mm. trans¬ 
parencies. These attachments will add much 
to your enjoyment of most of the color sub¬ 
jects you photograph. 

Here is a new idea, and for the moment it is 
only an idea, for I have not yet had the oppor¬ 
tunity to prove what I am going to propose. 

This new medium of Kodacolor, which pro¬ 
vides color prints at such an economical fig¬ 
ure, seems to offer the means for reviving the 
original idea of stereoscopic pictures. If you 
have one of the old viewers somewhere in the 
attic, or can locate one among family or 
friends, I believe you have a new thrill in 
store. 

Remember, I am making this suggestion 
with my fingers crossed, but the idea intrigues 
me sufficiently to prompt some early experi¬ 
ments. Especially since I recently discovered 
a forty year old viewer in a storage trunk 
whose contents reminds one of the Gay 90’s. 
At least the promise of results warrants buy¬ 
ing a few extra negatives and prints for the 
stereo effect that should be secured. 


As you know, a stereo camera is a two-lens 
affair, with the distance between lenses being 
about that of the spacing of the eyes of the 
average human being. The third dimension 
effect in the final pictures is secured because 
one lens “sees” around the objects in the 
composition a little on one side while the 
other lens catches a little of the opposite side 
of those same objects. 

Now for our little experiment with stereo 
views in Kodacolor prints. No Kodacolor film 
is available for regular stereo cameras but you 
can duplicate the result of the two lens camera 
by making two separate exposures of the same 
scene by moving the camera 2]/ 2 to 3 inches to 
right or left for the second exposure. This 
sidewise movement must be at dead right 
angles to the camera axis. 

If you are handy with tools you can con¬ 
struct a tripod head with a sliding channel, 
to which you rigidly attach the camera. A 
bumper stop at either end of the channel can 
be spaced so that the camera is moved com¬ 
pletely to the right, for instance, for the first 
exposure, and then completely to the left for 
the second. The distance of sidewise travel of 
the camera should be about 2 l / 2 inches, as we 
said before. 

When you get the Kodacolor prints, mount 
them in same position as taken—print at right 
hand from negative taken in right-hand posi¬ 
tion of camera, etc. For the small cost of one 
extra negative and one extra print of the same 
scene it would seem that the idea is worth the 
small gamble. 

Since you are making two exposures of the 
same scene you must avoid movement in the 
subject or the camera. A sufficiently heavy 
tripod should be used to insure stability. 

Luck to you adventurous souls who may 
attempt this new idea made possible by the 
recent introduction of the new color medium 
of Kodacolor. 

Pol a Screens 

Although this device can be used for special 
effects it seems to fit more properly into a 
discussion of filters. Its description and use 
is being covered in the chapter on “Filters and 
Color Meters.” 


188 


CHAPTER 14 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


O phase of color photography 
has brought more enjoyment 
to more people than has Koda- 
chrome movies. 

Just as color brings to still 
photography that added element of realism 
and emotional stimulus, Kodachrome movies 
add the element of movement to color to com¬ 
plete the realistic interpretation of the living, 
active world about us. 

Kodachrome movies “bring ’em back alive.” 
A flower gently swaying in the breeze, the 
flutter of leaves on the trees, or the ripple of 
a brook are infinitely more real and exciting 
when captured in Kodachrome movies. They 
are alive, dramatic, stimulating, completely 
satisfying. 

While it is true that pictures tell a more 
universally understood story than do words, 
color pictures in action tell all the story. They 
leave nothing in doubt. The viewer does not 
wonder what has happened, or what is about 
to happen. He sees it happen. 

All of which suggests that movies should be 
what the name implies. One of the two or 
three faults common to amateur movie makers 
is that they use their movie camera as a still 
camera too much of the time. They fail to 
realize that movement is the essence of inter¬ 
est in any movie reproduction of a scene, 
regardless of how static the subject being pho¬ 
tographed may seem to be. If there is no 
movement in the scene, create movement. 
Add a touch that will inject a bit of anima¬ 
tion. 

Do not misunderstand me. You need not 
have violent action to create interest. Study 
the professional movies analytically, espe¬ 
cially those done in color. Notice how many 
scenes (the majority in most pictures) are 
only “still” pictures to which has been added 
such restrained action as a gesture of the 


hand, a turn of the head, and only an occa¬ 
sional movement of a figure from one side of 
the frame entirely across the picture, in one 
continuous action. Note how many times fig¬ 
ures move only a short distance in a scene, 
come to rest for a period, and then move to 
another location in the scene. 

Remember that most professional movies 
are nothing but a series of still pictures, pains¬ 
takingly planned and carefully posed, to 
which has been added a minimum of violent 
action. When such violent action is intro¬ 
duced it is all the more dramatic because of 
its contrast with the more restrained action of 
earlier scenes. 

True it is that sound eliminates the neces¬ 
sity for the pantomime of silent days, but the 
best pantomime is usually not expressed in 
violent action. 

The amateur movie enthusiast can learn 
much from the technique of the professional. 
Since your interest is color, sit through a few 
Technicolor movies a second time, and the 
second time around devote all your attention 
to a studied analysis of color composition and 
arrangement. Notice how emphasis is placed 
on the principal character or on the center 
of interest in a scene through color or colors 
that contrast with the surroundings. Some¬ 
times the contrast is secured entirely with 
color, sometimes with values, sometimes both. 
You may remember instances where empha¬ 
sis was secured through use of white, black 
or gray against rather colorful backgrounds. 
And if you have been rather observing you 
have noticed that there has been much re¬ 
finement in color composition in the profes¬ 
sional movies and with this refinement has 
come a more subtle and artistic use of color. 
The point is that color is being made to tell 
some of the story that black and white always 
left untold. 



189 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


I am suggesting this study of professional 
color movies because whatever you find that 
demonstrates good use of color is no accident, 
you may be sure. Such scenes are the product 
of much talent and vast expenditures of time 
and money, and you can profit greatly from 
what has cost the producer thousands of dol¬ 
lars to learn and to prove. 

But to get back to the idea of movement in 
the color movies you make. Perhaps you want 
a record of such an inanimate object as a 
statue or monument and feel that the intro¬ 
duction of a figure is a contradiction in that 
the figure is not a part of the story of the 
object. You are partly right in your desire to 
hold attention on the subject. But remember 
that things are more impressive by contrast 
or comparison. 

To be specific, your subject is a white mon¬ 
ument fifty feet high, and it seems beautiful 
enough silhouetted against a vivid blue sky. 
But its inanimate character can he made more 
static by comparison with movement. Its 
stark whiteness can he made to appear even 
whiter through association with some color. 
Its size can he emphasized through “measur¬ 
ing” it with some object like an individual 
whose size one knows. 

I suggest you make the first footage of the 
monument base, close-up, and after a few 
feet have a colorfully dressed figure walk 
into the scene toward the monument from 
near the camera position, with his or her 
attention directed to the close-up detail on 
which your camera is focused. Continue the 
footage as the figure walks out of the scene, 
in the general direction at which she entered 
the picture. Cut that scene and move back 
until you can include the entire monument 
in your framing, and make some footage of 
the entire subject. You will have added color 
interest and movement through the introduc¬ 
tion of the figure in the first scene, and the 
viewer will be left with a clear conception of 
the monument’s size, color, location and sur¬ 
roundings through the all inclusive framing 
of the last scene. 

The foregoing is only one suggestion as to 
how such a subject may be given added in¬ 
terest but by no means must the suggestion 
be interpreted as an arbitrary rule. I am only 
endeavoring to stimulate your imagination, to 


help you create more color and pictorial in¬ 
terest in subjects that seem drab and static. 

You can use your movie as a “still” camera 
if you wish but you will be money ahead if 
you use a still camera for still color subjects, 
for no less than fifteen or twenty feet of film 
is required to do justice to any such expansive 
scene as a landscape, especially if there are 
several points of interest that must be seen 
and understood by the viewer in order that 
he grasp the whole story. It is necessary to 
use more footage on such scenes when you are 
photographing them in color, for the color 
makes many objects identifiable that are lost 
in black and white. There is more to “see” in 
color, and the scene must be held long enough 
on the projection screen so that everything 
can be seen and appreciated. 

Use every device to get movement as long 
as the movement does not detract from your 
story. A swaying tree branch cut into the sky 
will not detract from the scene and it adds 
life and a feeling of the breeze. If a lake or 
stream is a foreground part of a landscape, 
move in close enough to get some water move¬ 
ment at the front and bottom of your picture. 
It may be no more than the faintest ripple of 
windblown water, but it is animation. 

Or suppose you are photographing a flower 
garden. The result will he infinitely more 
pleasing if a slight breeze creates a little stir, 
especially among some of the foreground 
flowers. 

These and many other devices will give 
movies movement, and movement is a first 
essential of the medium. 

Outdoor Color Movie Problems 

As in all color photography, atmospheric 
conditions have much to do with the quality 
and intensity of colors in distant scenes. We 
are inclined to think of sunshine as sunshine, 
hut it is far from a constant condition. It is 
no more of a variable in intensity than it is in 
color quality, and these variations in color 
quality affect the color quality of your color 
results, sometimes seriously, sometimes only 
in moderate degree. 

Since the subject of outdoor light conditions 
is covered rather thoroughly in the chapter 
on “Sunlight Characteristics” I suggest you 
read those pages carefully, as an understand¬ 
ing of these conditions will help you analyze 


190 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


and correct some of the difficulties that may 
have disturbed you. Many conditions can be 
corrected or compensated for with color cor¬ 
rection filters, as described in the chapter on 
“Filters and Color Meters,” and these filters 
are just as applicable to Kodachrome movies 
as any other size or style of Kodachrome, for 
the emulsion is all balanced to the same sun¬ 
light condition. 

There is one phase of color movie making 
that is a little different than still color work, 
and that is in the matter of color composition. 

Movies are viewed enlarged to several hun¬ 
dred times the size of the film frame, which is 
both an advantage and disadvantage, as the 
case may be, but there is also the element of 
viewing interval, which is often and unfortu¬ 
nately much too short. This combination of 
factors suggests a little different technique in 
color composition for Kodachrome movies. 

If you have read the chapter on “Color 
Composition” you probably have the impres¬ 
sion that strong and contrasting colors are 
somewhat taboo in good color composition. 
But that applies more specifically to still color 
because we view a still picture for as long an 
interval as we wish, or we go back to it again 
and again. In movies the short time interval 
in which the viewer must grasp a clear con¬ 
ception of the scene necessitates more distinct 
separation between objects, masses and areas, 
in both color and value. 

If you will think of the footage on one scene 
as a single still color picture and then visual¬ 
ize yourself with a handful of still color 
prints, we can illustrate the point. With no 
advance explanation as to the subject of the 
still picture, hand them one at a time to a 
friend and take them away from him at ten 
or fifteen second intervals, abruptly and with¬ 
out warning. You would not expect him to 
get a very clear conception of what he had 
seen. But that is exactly what happens when 
your movies flit from scene to scene. The 
viewer’s eyes and mind become only partly 
adjusted to a scene when it disappears and 
another flashes onto the screen. 

To carry the still picture analogy yet fur¬ 
ther, the more “postery” these still pictures 
are (which you show your friend) the quicker 
he could grasp the whole story as well as a 
clear impression of the individual elements 
in the composition. 


All of which suggests, and often dictates 
that color compositions for Kodachrome 
movies should be as simple as possible; that 
the colors be larger masses; and that the 
colors should be fairly intense and more con¬ 
trasting than is usually permissible in the best 
still color work. Such simplification and such 
contrast is an adaptation of poster art tech¬ 
nique minus the “flatness” of what we usually 
call poster colors. Compare your movie shots 
that have strong, well massed color in well 
separated areas with other shots that are 
broken up and spotted with little dots of 
color and see if you do not agree that the 
postery scenes are more dramatic and in gen¬ 
eral more satisfying. 

Landscapes in Kodachrome Movies 

In line with this idea of simple color con¬ 
trasts, you can often strengthen a composi¬ 
tion and add much to a feeling of depth and 
perspective in landscape scenes by the use of 
intense warm colors in the foreground. Such 
colors are what we call “advancing” ones, and 
they contrast well with the blues and greens 
of the landscape—colors that are “receding” 
in the impressions they create. 

Just a moment ago we suggested that at¬ 
mospheric conditions have much to do with 
the color quality of distant scenes in Koda¬ 
chrome movies. Some days are “clear,” others 
“hazy” even under a cloudless sky. The at¬ 
mosphere is usually clearest following a rain 
storm, as you have no doubt noticed. Plus this 
clear air all surfaces such as foliage, rocks, 
etc., are washed clean, exposing all colors 
brilliantly and at their maximum intensity. 
Most surfaces have more color when they are 
damp or wet. This is particularly true of the 
walls of a canyon or cliff. 

Of course you cannot limit your movie 
making of landscapes to such ideal days, but I 
mention this condition only to encourage you 
to make the most of such days when you 
have the opportunity. For some inexplicable 
reason we do not appreciate these ideal con¬ 
ditions when they exist as much as we feel 
the lack of them on days that are unfavorable 
for color shooting. 

By way of contrast let us consider what we 
might do on a day when atmospheric haze 
dulls all distant objects and all but obliterates 
form and definition toward the horizon. Un- 


191 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


der such conditions Kodachrome movies will 
usually record an excessively blue cast that 
will be much more pronounced in the film 
than was visually apparent when you shot 
the scene. One method of correction is to 
frame the subject in such a way as to include 
more foreground and less of the distance. The 
haze will not noticeably affect objects within 
100 to 200 yards of the camera. If you cannot 
add color to the foreground, or cannot make 
it the dominant area in the composition you 
can partially correct this “blue cast” with a 
color correction filter. A list of such filters 
and a description of their uses appears in the 
chapter on filters. Any filter for use on day¬ 
light type Kodachrome, for instance, works 
equally well on movies or stills. 

While we are on the subject of haze may 
I suggest that you confine your angle of shoot¬ 
ing on distant scenes to any angle north of an 
east and west line through the camera posi¬ 
tion. Whenever you shoot at an angle into 
the south of this east and west line you are 
shooting into the sun, even when it is at the 
highest point in the sky, in the latitudes com¬ 
mon to the United States. Those of you who 
are world travelers need only to observe as to 
whether the sun is in front or behind the 
zenith, in relation to your camera angle. 

General atmospheric haze is troublesome 
enough at best, but when you try to penetrate 
it in any direction toward the sun the film will 
record no more clarity than your eye sees, and 
to that lack of clarity is added the blue haze 
color mentioned before. Such atmospheric 
conditions are a “screen” that has a certain 
opacity, plus all the halation around millions 
of particles of dust and moisture in the air. 

This does not mean that you should never 
shoot back-lighted subjects. Some of them 
are very dramatic. But you must not let your 
brain deceive you into seeing color because 
you know a Certain color exists in the subject. 
You can deceive yourself but you cannot fool 
Kodachrome. 

Do not suspect that landscapes should al¬ 
ways be photographed in flat light just be¬ 
cause of the haze conditions just mentioned. 
The objectionable condition against which we 
offer the caution is common to “toward the 
sun” shots, hut side-lighting, with the sun at 
something less than a 90 degree angle (pref¬ 
erably 40 to 75 degrees) is a very desirable 


light angle for distant scenes if such lighting 
adds form and strength to the composition. 
The need for more contrast between light and 
shadow is for the “poster” strength and sim¬ 
plicity we suggested in use of color contrasts. 

To go into more detail now on landscape 
problems in Kodachrome would only be to 
repeat much that has already been said in 
chapters 5 and 10. Study the problems out¬ 
lined in those pages for they apply directly 
and equally to all Kodachrome work, whether 
movies or stills. 

Close-up Subjects Outdoors 

We have been talking about the desirability 
of “poster” simplicity in compositions of dis¬ 
tant scenes. It is often more than a little diffi¬ 
cult to frame such compositions out of many 
landscapes, hut all effort should be directed 
toward such simplification. 

When we turn to close-up compositions the 
problem of color mass and simplicity in line 
and form is much easier, and is often cared 
for more or less automatically. Because the 
objects in most close-up compositions can be 
identified more readily one needs less color 
contrast and much less contrast between light 
and shadow areas to achieve the same visual 
result we try to get in distant subjects. In 
fact, as in all color work, close-up “black” 
shadows are very distracting and should he 
avoided in Kodachrome movies if at all pos¬ 
sible. If you use a light meter be sure that 
shadow areas do not call for more than two 
f/ stops more exposure than do the lightest 
areas (small highlights excepted). 

For example, shadow readings might call 
for stop f/5.6 and light areas for stop f/11. 
Both would be within the effective range of 
the Kodachrome film, although neither ex¬ 
treme would be faithfully recorded if the ex¬ 
posure was based on a compromise half way 
between the extremes, or stop f/8. 

If the composition is made up of darker 
than average colors (even in full sunlight) the 
best exposure would favor the lower meter 
readings or a little more open than stop f/8. 
On the other hand if the colors are lighter 
than average and they comprise the majority 
of the composition, favor the higher readings 
and use a diaphragm opening half way be¬ 
tween f/8 and f/11. 

All exposures are “compromises.” No one 


192 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


exposure can faithfully record all the light 
and dark colors in every composition. Instead 
of basing exposures on a meter setting half 
way between the readings on light and dark 
areas, base the exposure on the principal 
point of interest in the picture. If you are 
photographing people, and they are all wear¬ 
ing dark clothes, do not try to record the 
clothing faithfully (especially on close-ups) 
hut expose for the flesh—a little on the under¬ 
exposed side. Then to avoid losing the line 
and form of the figures place them against a 
background that is considerably lighter than 
the clothing, but darker than the flesh colors. 

If you are interested in extreme close-ups 
of people you can adapt and employ many of 
the suggestions incorporated in chapter 11 on 
“Portraits,” etc. 

Flower Studies Outdoors 

No type of subject offers greater opportuni¬ 
ty for color and variety of treatment than 
flower and garden shots. Flower subjects 
have always been a favorite of the worker in 
still Kodachrome photography, but you movie 
enthusiasts can capture the whole gamut of 
flower life, from the close-up action of a bud 
bursting into full bloom, to the beauty of 
dazzling masses of color swaying in a gentle 
breeze. 

Rather than repeat all that has been said 
in chapter 12 on “Flowers and Gardens,” I 
suggest that you read this chapter for ideas 
on lighting, close-ups, and so on. Every idea 
can be adapted to your movie making with 
the added interest of movement. 

But one technique that can be employed 
only by the movie camera owner is that of 
photographing the opening of a flower bud. 
It is a painstaking task but the fascinating 
results more than justify the effort. 

First, watch the behavior of a certain specie 
of flower, to determine the interval from the 
first indication of the burst of the bud to the 
full opening of the flower. Set the camera on 
a rigid tripod, at an angle to the flower and 
the sun that will take advantage of the best 
average conditions during the elapsed work¬ 
ing time. Next place some background behind 
the flower so as to isolate it from surrounding 
confusion. Use some judgment in the selec¬ 
tion of color and value of this background so 
that it will enhance the beauty of the flower. 


In general the background should be a color 
that is a complement or near complement to 
that of the flower’s color. If the flower is a 
light color use a background that is a little 
darker than the flower, and vice versa. 

At the first indication that the flower bud 
is starting to open run the camera while you 
count slowly up to 10. If your counting takes 
about 10 seconds you will have exposed about 
160 frames. Expose an equal amount of foot¬ 
age at regular intervals from then on until the 
flower is fully open. The interval between ex¬ 
posures must be determined by the total 
elapsed time it takes the flower to fully open. 
The closer together you space these exposure 
intervals the smoother the action or the feel¬ 
ing of continuous opening of the flower when 
the film is projected. To further smooth out 
this action you can expose fewer frames each 
time, and shorten the interval between ex¬ 
posures. If your camera can be set at half 
speed, or 8 frames per second, so much the 
better. 

To avoid too much change in the position 
of the flower between exposures it is advisable 
to protect it from wind or other disturbance. 
The only action you are after is that of the 
flower in the process of coming into full 
bloom, and any other movement will only 
detract from that desired result. 

An elaboration of this flower opening movie 
idea is to make a 50 or 100 foot record of a 
growing garden, over a period of four to six 
weeks, with a few feet of film shot each day 
or two. 

Interest in such a movie record might be 
increased through making the first shots of 
some member of the family giving the final 
touches to the planting of the garden. 

Obviously this four to six week film idea 
can be done most conveniently if you own a 
magazine type camera for otherwise you will 
be obliged to retire the camera from other 
use during the period. 

While such ideas require some planning 
and more than an ordinary amount of effort 
they are the kind of thing that is enjoyed for 
ever and a day, once you get them made. 

Night Kodachrome Movies Outdoors 

Street scenes that include colorfully illumi¬ 
nated signs, lighted fountains, fireworks, fires, 
camp fires, and such are all fascinating sub- 


193 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


jects for the movie enthusiast whose camera 
is equipped with a fast lens. 

You can use either Type A (artificial light) 
or Daylight Kodachrome as you are photo¬ 
graphing light sources instead of reflected 
light. If Daylight type film is used everything 
will be a little more toward the red side than 
if Type A is used. Anything you can photo¬ 
graph at night on Super X Pan film can be 
held equally well on Type A Kodachrome. 

It is impossible to make any rigid rules for 
exposure of such scenes as they vary so much 
in amount of light present. Underexposure is 
a more common failing than overexposure, so 
give the film all the light possible—f/1.9 to 
i/2.1 for average scenes, and for those where 
less light is present use the same f/ stops but 
half speed. 

Niyht KofUichrome Movies Indoors 

As a preliminary to any serious Koda¬ 
chrome movie making at night indoors read 
the chapter “Kodachrome by Artificial Light.” 

Since movie camera lenses most commonly 
used have a narrower angle of view than do 
most still camera lenses, the movie maker 
must make some revision in tables usually 
given for light placement and exposure in 
still Kodachrome work. 

The surest procedure is to include in your 
composition only such area as can be evenly 
and well lighted, and then to base all expos¬ 
ures on carefully made meter readings. 

In figuring areas to be covered by the lights 
remember that an area 3x4 feet comprises 
twice as many square feet as does an area 2 
x 3 feet, and that there are four times as many 
square feet in an area 4x6 feet as in one 2 
x 3 feet. 

Since shadows in artificial light work are 
often more objectionable than in outdoor 
color movies, get as much separation and 
contrast in color as you can in your composi¬ 
tion, without overdoing it, of course. The 
brightness range for the best color results 
should be somewhat shorter for indoor work 
than for sunlight shooting. Keep this range 
within about 1*4 f/ stops if possible. 

If you use reflectors on the photofloods that 
throw a “hot spot” focus the hot spot on the 
shadow areas where you need the most light, 
and never superimpose two or more hot spots 
on the same area. 


Some experimenting with light placement 
in line with suggestions in chapter 7 will help 
you develop your own best technique. Above 
all, avoid the common fault of piling all light 
into the central part of the composition with 
the result that the outside of the final picture 
will be badly underexposed. Be sure the even 
illumination covers more than the area in¬ 
cluded in the frame. 

Most common errors in artificial light work, 
unless you use a light meter to check all areas, 
are 

—wrong distance of lamps-to-subject 
—extreme variations in line voltage 
—use of old, exhausted photofloods 
—dirty or extremely inefficient reflectors 

A Few General Suggestions 

Restrain every temptation to do too much 
panorama shooting. If the scene demands it, 
then work with a tripod which is carefully 
leveled before you start shooting. Certain 
subjects can be panoramed in black and white 
that are all but ruined when photographed 
in color. Black and white tones blend from 
one into another as one panorams, but when 
the same scene is projected in color the eye 
dwells on color spots in an attempt to identify 
each object, no matter how small. And as the 
scene moves sidewise across the screen the eye 
is forced to jump from color spot to color 

spot, which is very fatiguing. 

******* 

In changing scenes, from one in flat light to 
one that is side or back-lighted, use an ex¬ 
posure that will keep all scenes in the same 
value or brightness “key.” Nothing is more 
disturbing when viewing a movie than to have 
an overexposed scene followed by a badly 
underexposed one. You lose much of the first 
of the underexposed scene until the eyes be¬ 
come accustomed to the new light condition. 
******* 

Use a light meter for movie use which has 
an angle of view that corresponds to the angle 
of the lens you use. The average meter covers 
about a 30 degree arc and readings made with 
such meters include much more area than the 
ordinary movie camera lens. If, however, you 
are using a wide angle lens the regular meter 

will serve better than a movie one. 

******* 

Do not use Daylight Type Kodachrome in- 


194 


BETTER MOVIES IN KODACHROME 


doors except with blue pliotoHoods. And al¬ 
ways use a light meter to calculate exposures 
because artificial light tables are for use with 
regular photofloods, and not the blue or day¬ 
light type of lamp. 

******* 

Type A Kodachrome can be used in sun¬ 
light if converted to daylight balance with a 
conversion filter. There is no loss in speed 
through such conversion, and you can use the 
same film factor as for Daylight type, which 
is Weston 8 or GE 12. 

******* 

A good rule for movie making of such color¬ 
ful subjects as fall foliage and flower gardens 
is to make the first scenes from such distance 
as will include the area you want in one 
frame, and then follow with a close-up of the 


most colorful part of the original scene. This 
close-up will register the “local” color of the 

scene more forcibly. 

******* 

Kodachrome movie techniques are suscep¬ 
tible to as much refinement as any other phase 
of color photography. Improved results are 
ample reward for any and all efforts necessary 
to produce them. Again may I urge you to 
study the very effective use of color in the 

best of the professional movies. 

******* 

This chapter has been confined, primarily, 
to those Kodachrome problems peculiar to 
movie work. May I assure you that practically 
all the previous chapters cover Kodachrome 
problems that are just as applicable to movie 
making as to still color work. 


EXPOSURE TABLE FOR OUTDOOR KODACHROME MOVIES IN FULL SUNLIGHT 

(Film rating Weston 8, GE 12) 

General Tone Value of the Subject 16 frames per sec. 8 frames per sec. 

Very Dark " f/4.5 f/6.3 

Dark f/5.6 f/8 

AVERAGE f/8 f/11 

_Light f/11 f/16 

Very Light f/14 f/20 


EXPOSURE TABLE FOR TYPE A KODACHROME BY PHOTOFLOOD LIGHT 


(Film rating Weston 12, GE 20) 

Number and Size Shutter 


of Photofloods 

Speed 

3 ft 

4i/ 2 ft 

5 ft 

6y 2 ft 

7 ft 

9 ft 

13 ft 

Two No.l or 

Normal 

f/5.6 

f/4 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 

i/2.2 

f/1.9 


One No. 2 

y 2 Speed 

f/8 

f/6.3 

f/5.6 

f/3.5 

f/3.2 

f/1.8 


Four No. 1 or 

Normal 

f/7 

f/5.6 

f/5 

f/4.5 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 

f/1.9 

Two No. 2 

y 2 Speed 

f/10 

f/8 

f/7 

f/5 

f/5.6 

f/3.5 

f/2.8 


For darker than average subjects, use *4 f/ stop larger 
For lighter than average subjects, use % t/ stop smaller 

Calculations are based on the use of new or nearly new photoflood lamps in Kodaflcctors or equally efficient reflectors 


EXPOSURE CONVERSION FOR VARIOUS CAMERA SPEEDS 


Frames per second 




DIAPHRAGM OPENING 

(f n 

umber) 




16 

2 

2.8 

3.2 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 

12.5 

16 

18 

22 

8 

2.8 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 

12.5 

16 

18 

22 

25 

32 

12 

2.3 

3.2 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 

12.5 

16 

18 

22 

25 

24 

1.8 

2.3 

2.8 

3.2 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 

12.5 

16 

18 

32 

1.4 

2 

2.3 

2.8 

3.2 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 

12.5 

16 

48 


1.8 

2 

2.3 

2.8 

3.2 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 

12.5 

64 


1.4 

1.8 

2 

2.3 

2.8 

3.2 

4 

4.5 

5.6 

6.3 

8 

9.1 

11.3 


195 























KODACOLOR—A MEDIUM FOR EVERABODY 


This versatile member of the color family offers the snap-shot enthusiast a thrilling medium 
of expression. It is a negative and print process differing from black and white in that the 
final image of both the negative and print positive is a colored dye image instead of being made 
with blackened silver. 

The negative is not only in “reverse” as regards tones of light and shade, but the dye color 
image is also in reverse in color, or in colors that are complementary to those in the subject to 
which the film is exposed. Study the reproduction of the negative on the facing page and 
compare the colors in the main masses with the complementary colors in the same areas in the 
positive paper print. 

Kodacolor is one of the very real contributions to amateur, snap-shot photography. It will 
bring new pleasure and added enthusiasm to millions of camera fans, old and young alike. As 
the film can be used in any roll-film camera equipped with a lens and shutter that will pro¬ 
duce good black and white pictures, literally it is a medium for the millions. 

Now color completes the story for the snap-shooter, for color tells all the story that can only 
be partially recorded within the limitations of monochromatic photography. 


196 





























































s 


















CHAPTER 15 


KDDACOLQR-A MEDIUM FOR EVERYBODY 


T HIS versatile medium, developed 
primarily for the “snap-shooter,” 
is an especially prepared roll film 
negative material from which 
snap-shot size color prints may 
he had at a popular price. The wide range of 
negative sizes brings the medium within reach 
of millions—from the owner of the lowly and 
too often maligned box camera up to the finest 
of roll film equipment. 

This is not to imply that Kodacolor is a 
“poor man’s” Kodachrome — it is for every¬ 
body—for all those thousand and one snap¬ 
shot subjects that we all delight in having in 
black and white. Now color makes them alive 
—not merely monochromatic records of an 
event, a scene, a friend, or a member of the 
family. 

The medium requires no more care, experi¬ 
ence nor pains than should be exercised in 
the taking of any black and white shot. Any 
roll film camera equipped with a lens and 
shutter that will produce good black and 
white pictures will produce good snap-shot 
records in Kodacolor. 

If you are an accomplished worker in Koda¬ 
chrome, and have developed an eye for deli¬ 
cate and subtle color, and if you are critical 
in analyzing fidelity of color reproduction you 
will instantly recognize that Kodacolor and 
Kodachrome are in no wise competitive in 
results and effects. 

Nowhere in the manufacturer’s literature is 
there any statement, direct or implied, that 
Kodacolor is anything more than just what 
the literature says—“a color medium for snap- 
shooters.” 

If you have never worked in Kodachrome, 
Kodacolor will be an interesting beginning in 
color, for it can teach you much in the way 
of color composition, what type of lighting is 
best for color, and other fundamentals. 


This new medium of Kodacolor must not 
be confused with a movie color process in use 
some years ago, and sold under the same trade 
name. The present Kodacolor bears no resem¬ 
blance, either in processes or results, to the 
former medium which has been out of use for 
several years. 

Strange as it may seem, there is little in 
photography that is new, not excepting Koda¬ 
color. The general theory of the medium was 
worked out years ago, but the inventors of the 
process were unable to “stabilize” the sensi¬ 
tizers and the dye couplers with the materials 
available to them at that time. 

The Kotlficolor Negative and 
Positive 

Those of you who are interested in the sci¬ 
ence and mechanics of things may like a little 
insight into this color process that is both 
alike and still different from that used in 
Kodachrome. In both processes, the film is a 
triple-coated or tri-pack emulsion, on one 
transparent base or support. The film’s three 
light-sensitive layers are sensitive to the three 
colors that are approximately complementary 
to the three colors in the positive—the paper 
print in color. 

The layer nearest the base is red-sensitive; 
the middle layer is green-sensitive; over this 
is a filter layer to absorb blue; and the top 
layer is blue-sensitive. If you recall the earlier 
explanation of the light-sensitive layer ar¬ 
rangement of Kodachrome, you remember 
that the red-sensitive layer becomes the blue- 
green dye layer in the Kodachrome transpar¬ 
ency; the green-sensitive layer becomes the 
magenta dye layer; and the blue-sensitive 
layer becomes the yellow dye layer. 

In a Kodachrome these three dye layers are 
on the transparent acetate base, to be viewed 
by transmitted light. In a Kodacolor print, 




KODACOLOR— A MEDIUM FOR EVERYBODY 



Weston 250. This would give an exposure 
of 1/25 at f/16 or 1/50 at f/11. 

the three dye layers yellow, magenta and blue- 
green, are in the gelatin on the paper support, 
to be viewed by reflected light. 

To this point, Kodacolor and Kodachrome 
are similar. They are both film materials that 
record the subject in negative or reverse tones. 
That is, the darkest areas in the subject are 
the lightest areas in the negative. You never 
see a Kodachrome negative (for it is in that 
state only in the laboratory processing). You 
see only the dye-layer positive transparency, 
as the negative Kodachrome is reversed into 
a positive image. There is never but one piece 
of film material. 

The Kodacolor process consists of (1) the 
negative film, which remains as such in the 
same way as does a black and white negative, 
and (2) the paper positive, or color print, 
which is in the same relationship to the nega¬ 
tive as is a black and white paper print to a 
black and white negative. 

But the Kodacolor negative is in color in¬ 
stead of black and white or tones of light and 
shade. These colors are those to which the 
three layers of the Kodacolor negative are 
sensitive—red, green and blue. These are the 
approximate complements of the blue-green, 
magenta and yellow of the Kodacolor paper 
print. 

The process differs from Kodachrome in the 
method in which the dye color is “inserted.” 


In Kodacolor the “dye” is in the emulsion 
in the form of infinitesimal particles of or¬ 
ganic compounds, insoluble in water. The film 
is processed with a developer of which the 
oxidation product reacts with the three cou¬ 
plers, each in its own layer, and thus a dye 
image is produced with the silver image in 
each layer. After the silver has been removed, 
a negative is obtained composed of dyes, as 
explained before. When the negative is print¬ 
ed upon a paper coated with a similar set of 
emulsions, a color print is obtained in which 
the colors of the original subject are repro¬ 
duced as faithfully as the limitations of the 
medium permit. 

Color Rendition 

It is manifestly unfair to make arbitrary 
statements about the “quality” of the results 
secured with any color process, because too 
many factors influence what one person may 
think good and another one consider unsatis¬ 
factory. One’s own “eye for color” sets the 
standard. 

Without any wish to detract from the ob¬ 
vious merits of this medium of Kodacolor, I 
must confess to a conviction that seldom do 
the paper prints do justice to the apparent 
quality of the negatives from which they are 
made. One proof is the quality of Wash-Off 
Relief Color Prints made from Kodacolor 
negatives. No doubt Kodacolor print quality 
will be improved. 

My experience and observation is that reds, 
all reds, record very well and rather faithfully, 
in Kodacolor, when properly exposed. Blues 
seem to have more of a “sameness” than in 
Kodachrome. All blue skies seem to record as 
the same blue, which is a departure from 
reality because there is much variation in sky 
color. Yellows do not register with the same 
brilliance and intensity as they do in Koda¬ 
chrome. This seeming deficiency in yellow 
affects the color saturation in greens and 
causes all of them to tend toward a blue-green 
cast. This is especially noticeable in foliage 
that is, in local color, more on the yellow- 
green side. 

Flesh tones record very satisfactorily but 
with a slight deficiency in yellow, and the 
modeling shadows on a face sometimes show 
an excess of red in shadows that should con- 


200 


KODACOLOR — A MEDIUM FOR EVERYBODY 


tain more cool color. If a choice must be made 
between too much warmth or too much cool¬ 
ness in a face, certainly an excess of warmth 
is preferable. 

Kodacolor is just as susceptible to the influ¬ 
ence of reflected colored light as Kodachrome 
(or any other color medium), so do not criti¬ 
cize a red cast on a face if that color cast is 
caused by light reflected from a red dress, for 
instance. 

This brief resume of the fidelity of color 
rendition of Kodacolor, based as it is upon 
very limited experience, must not be consid¬ 
ered as severe criticism of the medium, but 
rather as a suggestion as to what type of color 
subjects are the best subjects for Kodacolor. 

An Analysis of Test Shots 

Figure 126 is a good, typical Kodacolor 
subject. The figure in a brilliant red dress 
gives warmth and a feeling of color saturation 
to the whole scene. The shadow areas in the 
large masses of foliage are not as colorless in 
the Kodacolor print as the black and white 
reproduction suggests. Other areas in full sun 
are reproduced very pleasingly, in both tone 
value and color. 

Figure 127 is one of those subjects that is 
immensely more interesting in Kodacolor than 
in a black and white, but it is not a good sub¬ 
ject for the medium. The composition does 
not include enough warm color and the dark 
foliage areas do not separate, in the color 
print, as well as they do in the black and white 
reproduction. As mentioned before, the greens 
have less color saturation than they have in 
the subject, and they are somewhat on the 
“blue” side, a part of which is the effect of 
blue sky reflection in the leaves turned toward 
the sky. 

Figure 128 depends entirely upon the color 
in the figure for color effect, for all the other 
areas are neutral or grayed, light value colors. 
As a test, this shot was made under a heavy 
overcast sky in light so weak (about 3 p.m.) 
that flesh tones measured Weston 25. Such 
light is badly out of balance in color quality, 
and is usually excessively blue. Inasmuch as 
a Color Temperature Meter was not used to 
check the light, I can only report the result 
in the Kodacolor print. The foreground tree 
recorded with a decided pinkish cast instead 
pf with a blue cast, as one would expect, since 



slightly underexposed the background 
foliage and tended toward overexposure 
in the lightest foreground areas. 

the local color of the bark is a cool neutral 
and should have appeared decidedly bluer 
under this light condition. If one were making 
the shot in Kodachrome, the light condition 
would have suggested the use of one of the 
Eastman or Harrison Color Correction Filters 
—one of the “warm” filters—to compensate 
for this out-of-balance in the color quality of 
the light. 

It should be added that the manufacturer 
warns, “Do not use a color filter of any type 
with Kodacolor Film, as the pictures will as¬ 
sume the color of the filter.” 

Figure 129 is another shot that violates the 
manufacturer’s instructions, in that the illu¬ 
mination was Daylight (blue) Photoflood. 
Film instructions say that such photofloods 
will usually add excess yellow to the result, 
and that Photoflash (the No. 21B lamp, day¬ 
light type) should always be used for indoor 
artificial light work. I presume this caution is 
given because there is too much likelihood 
that old and partially exhausted photofloods 
may be often used, and photofloods burn “yel¬ 
lower” as they age. Flash is a more constant 
light quality. Another exposure of this sub¬ 
ject, made with photoflash, rendered some 
colors more faithfully, others not as well. 
Between the two, I personally prefer the re¬ 
sult secured with the photoflood illumination. 


201 




KODACOLOR — A MEDIUM FOR EVERYBODY 



Weston 25—a very weak light. Exposure 
used was 1/10 at f/8. 

In spite of this experience it would be con¬ 
sistently safer to use the photoflash recom¬ 
mended for the film. 

Figure 130 was made with Photoflash illu¬ 
mination, as recommended for the film. In 
this case as in all others where photoflash is 
employed as the sole light source* the result 
depends as much upon the placement of the 
lights as any other factor. Often more so. The 
color result, in Kodacolor, was not very satis¬ 
factory. Due to a deficiency in yellow, the 
greens were not crisp and fresh as they were 
in the same shot made in Kodachrome, under 
the same conditions. Based solely on these 
two experiences with Kodacolor and photo¬ 
flash illumination I am inclined to suggest 
that you should not expect as consistently 
satisfactory results, in color rendition, as in 
full sunlight. 

Figure 131 is an ideal subject for Kodacolor. 
The red dress is exceptionally brilliant and 
faithful in color. The white wall gives good 
value contrast and the dark green foliage con¬ 
trasts against that in turn. The shadows on the 


wall and door are open and luminous and give 
excellent feeling of the light condition, which 
was brilliant noon-day sun. The green foliage 
is somewhat deficient in yellow, but it must 
be remembered that such foliage turned rath¬ 
er directly toward the sky will be affected, in 
color, by the blue reflected from the sky. 
Since the predominating color in the tile 
border around the door is much the same 
kind of blue-green as the dye color used in 
Kodacolor, this tile is reproduced in very 
faithful color. In color contrast, value con¬ 
trast and kind of color, this subject might be 
considered as the type that will produce uni¬ 
formly pleasing and satisfactory results in 
Kodacolor. 

Exposure Calculations 

The recommended basic exposure for Koda¬ 
color, for average subjects in full, direct sun¬ 
light, is 1/50 of a second at f/8 to f/11. May 
I repeat again what has been emphasized so 



129 


Photoflood illumination, 1 second at f/22, 
based on average meter readings of the 
subject. Film instructions recommend 
photoflash rather than photoflood. In 
either case, the blue, daylight type lamp 
must be used. 


202 




KODACOLOR— A MEDIUM FOR EVERYBODY 


often, that all suggested exposures are based 
on the assumption that your shutter is reason¬ 
ably accurate and that it operates at the speed 
at which you set it. 

The exposure table on next page will serve 
as a working guide, and as something against 
which to check your equipment. If you follow 
these tables and your exposures are consistent¬ 
ly over- or underexposed, try making a per¬ 
centage compensation in f/ stop setting until 
you have found a factor that works with your 
shutter. Either that or have the shutter 
checked and reset. The suggestions for shutter 
checking in Chapter 17 will help you deter¬ 
mine the percentage of error in your equip¬ 
ment, if you wish to do such checking yourself. 

Remember that since Kodacolor negatives 
are exactly like a black and white negative in 
respect to tones of light and shade, and gen¬ 
eral density, you follow the same rules for 
checking over- and underexposure. An over¬ 
exposed negative will he too heavy (or have 
too much density), and an underexposed 



130 


This still life was exposed by daylight 
type (blue) photoflash, at the exposure 
given in the table for a lamp-to-subject 
distance of 5 feet. 



soften the modeling shadows on the face. 
Exposure 1/25 at f/16. 

negative will he thin (or have too little den¬ 
sity) . The prints, likewise, will follow the 
same general rule as for black and white, ex¬ 
cept for such compensations as the processing 
laboratory makes in developing and printing. 

Black and White Prints from 
Kodacolor Negatives 

Kodacolor negatives can be used for black 
and white prints, either by contact or projec¬ 
tion printing, with rather surprising results. 
The quality of such black and white prints is 
superior to those made from black and white 
negatives exposed under the same conditions, 
in many cases. It is hardly likely that Koda¬ 
color negatives will be exposed purposely for 
use in printing black and white prints, but 
they will serve the double purpose, and with 
excellent results. 

But a word of caution. Handle Kodacolor 
negatives with more care than most people 
give black and white negatives, as they are 
very susceptible to scratches and abrasions 


203 



KODACOLOR — A MEDIUM FOR EVERYBODY 


which will show up in a most pronounced 
fashion in black and white enlargements. 

All Rules for Good Color Worh 
Apply Equally to Kodacolor 

Every phase of color photography discussed 
in all the preceding pages, except actual ex¬ 
posure tables that apply only to Kodachrome, 
is equally applicable to Kodacolor in prob¬ 
lems you will encounter in color composition, 
color characteristics, methods for determining 
exposures under various light conditions, and 
the whole gamut of factors that affect color 
results. To go into detail in respect to any of 
these influences would be only to duplicate 
what has been said before. You will get better 
results with Kodacolor if you follow the fun¬ 
damental rules for good color work. So do 
not assume that because Kodacolor is not 
mentioned in all references to Kodachrome 
techniques that Kodacolor is immune to those 
influences that produce maximum color re¬ 
sults, generally speaking, regardless of the 
color medium used. 


Film aud Print Sizes 

At the moment, Kodacolor is available in 
the following roll film sizes: 


Kodacolor 

Negative 

Maximum 


Roll 

Size 

Number of 

PRINT 

Number 

in Inches 

Exposures 

SIZE* 

C127 

1%x21/ 2 

6 

2 % x 4/ 2 

C127 

l%xl% 

9 

2 7 / 8 x2/ 8 

C127 

1**1A 

12 

2%x3% 

C120 

2 1 / 4x3 1 / 4 

6 

2 % x 4/ 4 

C620 

2%x3% 

6 

2 % x 4/ 4 

C120 

214 x 21/ 2 

8 

2 % x 3/ 4 

C120 

2%x2% 

9 

2%x2% 

C620 

2%*1% 

12 

2%x4 

C120 

2/4x1% 

12 

2%x4 

C116 

2 / 2 x 41/4 

6 

2%x5 

C616 

2 / 2 x 4/ 4 

6 

2%x5 

C616 

2 1 / 2 x2% 

11 

2 % x 3/ 4 

C122 

31/4x5 y 2 

6 

2 % x 5/ 8 

C122 

3/4x2% 

11 

2 % x 3/ 4 


* Approximate size of the face of the print, exclusive of 
margins. All prints use full area of the negative except the 
3*4x5 y 2 size, where there is a loss of about % inch on side and 
ends. In using this film make allowance for this loss in fram¬ 
ing your picture. 


KODACOLOR EXPOSURE TABLE—DAYLIGHT 
(film speed rating: weston 20, ge 32) 


Shutter Kind of Bright Open Shade Hazy Sun Cloudy 

Speeds Subject Summer Sun Sunny Day (Soft Shadows) (No Shadows) 

Light.. f7l4 f/32 f/18 

1/5 Average. f/12.7 f/25 f/14 

Dark. . f/29 f/11 f/20 f/12.7 

Light. f/32 f/10 f/22 f/12.7 

1/10 Average. f/25 f/9 f/18 f/10 

Dark. f/20 f/8 f/14 f/9 

Light. . f/20 f/O f/14 f/8 

1/25 Average.. f/16 f/5.6 f/11 f/6.3 

Dark... f/12.7 f/5 f/9 f/5.6 

Light.. f/14 f/4.5 f/To f/5.6 

1/50 Average..... f/11 f/4 f/8 f/4.5 

Dark. f/9 f/3.5 f/6.3 f/4 


IN WINTERTIME, use one f/ stop larger than settings listed above. 


PHOTOFLASH EXPOSURE TABLE FOR KODACOLOR 


(For exposures made with ONE 

(1) No. 21B PHOTOFLASH LAMP in 

an efficient reflector. 

Shutter “open 

and shut.”) 

Lamp-to-Subject Distance 

5 ft. 

7 ft. 

10 ft. 

14 ft. 

{/ stop setting. 

. .-. f /11 

f/8 

f/5.6 

f 4 


NOTE: Use no filter. If a second light is used for side-lighting, and if it is a greater distance from subject than primary 
light, no exposure allowance need be made for this additional light. 


201 



























CHAPTER 16 


FILTERS FOR COLOR, COLOR METERS 


Y OU will recall the discussions in 
previous chapters about the sen¬ 
sitivity balance of Kodachrome 
film to certain light sources. The 
daylight type film is balanced 
for sunlight with a color temperature of about 
5400 degrees Kelvin; the artificial light type 
to about 3400 degrees Kelvin for Type A and 
the Type B (cut film) is balanced for use with 
3200 degree lamps. (See tables of ratings on 
pages 68 and 92.) 

If we theoretically separate the three emul¬ 
sion layers of Kodachrome and think of each 
of them as a separate emulsion on a separate 
support, we would have three positive images 
—one in yellow, one in magenta, and one in 
blue-green. In effect the three colored posi¬ 
tives would resemble the three dyed matrices 
used in making a Wash-off Relief Color Print. 

Let us assume that our original subject in¬ 
cluded a large area of light gray. If the Koda¬ 
chrome recorded that gray faithfully it would 
do so by maintaining a delicate balance be¬ 
tween the very faint deposit of all three colors 
(yellow, magenta, blue-green), superimposed, 
for the neutral gray is composed of those three 
dye colors. 

But if the magenta (red) layer of the Koda¬ 
chrome is too heavy in color, when that layer 
is superimposed over the yellow and blue- 
green layers the gray area will have too much 
red for a proper balance with the other two 
colors. The gray area will now he a pinkish 
gray instead of the neutral gray in the subject. 

How did that excess red get into the Koda¬ 
chrome? The light source would have con¬ 
tained more red in relation to the other two 
colors than the light to which the film is 
balanced. 

We have used a light neutral gray for check¬ 
ing because out-of-balance color can he more 
easily detected in such a high value, neutral 


color. Why not use white as a check? If the 
neutral gray used was high enough in value it 
would appear as white, for white in Koda¬ 
chrome is only an approximation of white— 
it is actually a very high value gray composed 
of all three dye colors in Kodachrome. 

In the test we easily detect the surplus red, 
for instance, in the light gray. But if there is 
surplus red in the gray there is also that same 
amount of surplus red in every color and 
every area in that same Kodachrome, visually 
undetectable though it may he. Increase the 
surplus red to the extreme, as in sunset light, 
and the red predominates in every color, even 
though it may not appear as red. Colors that 
are red or closely related to red have red 
added as red color. In complementary colors, 
such as green foliage, the red added to the 
green tends to annihilate both colors and the 
result, in the extreme, is a dark, almost color¬ 
less value. 

Color Correction Filters 

No further evidence is needed to support 
the necessity for some method of compensat¬ 
ing for out-of-balance light conditions. The 
Kodachrome film is going to record the color 
as it is and not as you know or think it is. 

The only way to correct for out-of-blance 
light is to correct the color balance of the light 
source. And the most direct way to bring the 
light into proper balance is through a correc¬ 
tion filter at the camera lens. If the light is 
too cool—a color temperature towards the 
blue—a warm or complementary color filter 
holds back the excess blue and transmits the 
warm colors. Or a cool filter will hold back 
the excess red in late afternoon light, for in¬ 
stance, and allow the blue to “catch up” with it. 

In artificial light work the light source does 
not vary to the extreme extent that sunlight 
can and does. A variation of less than 100 


205 


FILTERS FOR COLOR, COLOR METERS 

degrees Kelvin is hardly noticeable in the 
Kodachrome result. But sunlight color tem¬ 
peratures vary as much as three or four thou¬ 
sand degrees, as you will notice by referring 
to the Kelvin table shown on page 68. 

This suggestion that artificial light varies 
only within relatively close limits, and that 
sunlight varies greatly, would seem to indicate 
that there is little need for color correction 
by artificial light, and that it is a necessity 
outdoors. It does not work out quite that way. 
Your indoor artificial light shots are close-ups 
and the colors of the subject are not influ¬ 
enced by atmosphere. Any over-all color cast, 
such as would be caused by old and partially 
exhausted photofloods, would he instantly no¬ 
ticed as false color. On the other hand, every 
landscape (except for its immediate fore¬ 
ground) is greatly influenced by atmospheric 
conditions. The same scene may look different 
in color and value on a dozen successive days, 
and during different times of day. The indoor 
subject is always the same under the same 
artificial light conditions, and the eye quickly 
detects any variation from “normal.” 

Getting hack to artificial light problems, if 
you are working with a wiring system in which 
you have voltage control, and if all lights 
being used at one time are comparatively new 
and of the same type and wattage, you can 
often bring the color temperature of the lights 
into balance through control of the voltage. 
The voltage in the line must be higher than 
that for which the lamps are rated. If you 
can make no such corrections in line voltage 
you are obliged to resort to correction filters. 

Color Temperature Meters 

Assuming correction filters will bring the 
light source into proper balance for the film 
type we are using, we then need some means 
of determining to what extent the light is out 
of balance, whether too warm or too cool, and 
what filter must he used to make the proper 
correction. One needs no such device to de¬ 
tect the “red” light at sunset, but even then 
we cannot visually determine how much cor¬ 
rection is required to eliminate all or most 
of this excess red. 

Two reliable color temperature meters are 
available—the Eastman Color Temperature 
Meter and the Harrison Color Meter. The 
Eastman meter is designed for artificial light 


use primarily, and the Harrison meter is for 
both sunlight and artificial light sources. 

The Eastman meter is calibrated to detect 
variations in color temperature to within 50 
degrees Kelvin. The Harrison meter is de¬ 
signed to cover a much wider variation in 
color temperatures, and depends upon visual 
detection of subtle variations. 



132 


The Eastman Color Temperature Meter, 
designed primarily for use in checking the 
color quality, or color balance, of artificial 
light sources. 


Eastman Color Temperature Meter 

The meter must first be adjusted to the 
color sensitivity of the operator’s eye, which 
is easily done with accessories furnished with 
the meter. Once set it stays constant to that 
eye setting. 

In use you set the meter for the color tem¬ 
perature for which the film is balanced, then 
look into the eye piece with meter pointed at 
a white card (provided with the meter) upon 
which the light source is falling. You do not 
see the card, hut a divided field of color, one- 
half of which is a constant yellow. If the light 
source is burning at the proper color tempera¬ 
ture the two halves of the field seen in the 
eye piece will match in color. If the light 
source is too yellow or reddish, the variable 
half of the field will appear to have a reddish 
cast. If too blue, it will appear a bluish or 
greenish cast. 

To determine what filter will bring the light 
source into balance, interpose the correction 
filters, one at a time, between the meter and 
the white card until you find the one that 
makes the two halves of the meter field appear 
to match in color. 


206 





FILTERS FOR COLOR, COLOR METERS 


Or if you want to know how many degrees 
off balance the light source is, turn the dial 
of the meter (while pointed at the card) until 
you balance the two halves of the meter field. 
Calibrations on the meter will tell at what 
color temperature the lamps are burning. 

This meter is extremely sensitive to a nar¬ 
row range of color temperatures and is an 
excellent one for artificial light work. Its use 
in sunlight is limited by the limited scope of 
the meter’s coverage. 



light sources. 

Harrison Color Meter 

This meter operates somewhat as does the 
Eastman meter in that you look through the 
eye piece at a white card which is turned to 
catch full, flat light from the source. But 
with the Harrison meter you see the card 
rather than a divided color field. 

In use you turn the meter dial until the 
white card appears quite bluish, then rotate 
the dial counter clockwise until the card ap¬ 
pears pinkish. Then turn back and forth be¬ 
tween these two points until you find the spot 
where the card seems to be free of either a 
bluish or pinkish cast. 

The markings on the meter designate what 
filter is to be used, depending upon the type 
of light source. 

If the reading at the setting at which the 
white card is neither bluish nor pinkish says 
“O,” then the light is in balance and no filter 
is necessary. 


Etistman Color Temperature 
Filter Set 

A set of seven filters are provided for use 
with the Eastman Color Temperature Meter. 
Four of them are bluish in color and are to be 
used to compensate for excess warm color in 
the light source; three are yellowish in cast, 
and are for correcting excess cool color in the 
light balance. 


These filters are available in gelatin 


squares; in “B” glass 

squares or circles, un- 

inounted. 




Three “Warm' 

’ Filters 

Filter Factor 

CC 13 


none 


CC 14 


none 


CC 15 


none 


Four “Cool” i 

Filters 

Filter Factor 

CC 3 


none 


CC 4 


none 


CC 5 


1.5 


CC 6 


2 


Harrison Filters 

for Kodachrome 

Twelve 


Twelve 


“Warm” 

Filter 

“Cool” 

Filter 

Filters 

Factor 

Filters 

Factor 

“Coralite” 


“Blue” 


C % 

None 

B V 8 

None 

c y 4 

None 

b y 4 

1.2 

c y 2 

None 

b y 2 

1.4 

C 1 

1.3 

B 1 

1.8 

C 2 

1.5 

B 2 

2. 

C 3 

1.6 

B 3 

2.5 

*C 4 

1.7 

tB 4 

2.8 

C 5 

1.9 

B 5 

3.1 

C 6 

2. 

B 6 

3.6 

C 7 

2.2 

B 7 

3.8 

fC 8 

2.5 

§B 8 

4.1 

C 9 

2.8 

B 9 

4.9 


* C 4 for conversion of Type A to Daylight use. 

t C 8 for conversion of Type B to Daylight use. 

X B 4 for conversion of Daylight to Type A use. 

§ B 8 for conversion of Daylight (cut film) to Type 
B use. 

Using Filters Without a Meter 

As mentioned in previous pages, I have had 
quite successful results with both Harrison 
and Eastman filters, in sunlight conditions, 
without checking the color temperature of the 
light with a meter. 

Daylight Kodachrome is balanced for 
Washington, D. C., average noonday summer 
sun. In the clear, rarefied atmosphere at high 
altitudes in the Colorado Rockies, it is reason¬ 
able to suppose that the sunlight is “bluer” 
or whiter than it is at lower altitudes or at 
sea level. Even limited experience will prove 
that this is true, as a rule. Instead of using a 
haze filter in these high altitudes I get much 
better results with an Eastman CC 13 or CC 


207 



FILTERS FOR COLOR, COLOR METERS 


14 or a Harrison C 1. The haze filter does 
no damage, hut it does not seem to give suffi¬ 
cient correction, nor as pleasing correction, 
perhaps I should say. 

Another use of filters, without dependence 
upon a meter check, is on scenes that are pre¬ 
dominantly one color, such as the Puget 
Sound country, where the average composi¬ 
tion is likely to be made up of water, trees 
and sky. Kodachrome records such scenes 
with more of a blue cast than your eye sees 
it. Deliberate warming up of the Kodachrome 
through use of a C 1 or CC 14 filter will result 
in the Kodachrome appearing more nearly 
like the subject appears when you are there. 
I might add that in the presence of bright, 
warm sunshine our senses Seem to become con¬ 
fused and the “cool” scenes appear much 
warmer on a warm day than they really are. 

Still another use of correction filters is to 
add color to an already predominant color. 
The best color shots I ever made of the 
Painted Desert in Arizona were with a warm 
filter. The intensity of the warm color of this 
colorful expanse was increased through use of 
a filter, and the Kodachrome looked more 
nearly like one thinks the color of the Desert 
is when he is on the scene. 

Other Filters for Kodttehrome 

Eastman Filters 

Filter for Photoflood .Converts 35 mm. and Movie Day¬ 
light type Kodachrome for use 
with Photoflood (Reduces film 


speed to Weston 3 or GE 5). 

Haze Filter.Absorbs ultraviolet, to reduce 

distant haze. 

Type A Filter.Permits use of Type A Koda¬ 

chrome in daylight, giving it the 


same speed as daylight type film. 

“A” Diffusion Disk.For slight diffusion. 

“B” Diffusion Disk.For moderate diffusion. 

(Both Disks designed for portrait work.) 

(FOR DAYLIGHT TYPE kodachrome) 


Wratten No. 1.Reduces bluish cast under heavy 

overcast sky, or in pictures taken 
in open shade under a clear blue 
sky; for distant scenes or high- 
altitude aerial shots. 

Wratten No. 2A.Same purpose as No. 1 except 

gives more correction. 

CC 15.Also for use with Kodatron 

Speedlamp. 

CC 33.Compensating filter for Daylight 

Fluorescent Lamps. 

CC 23 and 43.Compensating combination for 

White Flame Carbon arc lamps. 

(for TYPE b kodachrome) 

Wratten No. 2A.For use when mazda photoflash 

is sole light source. 


CC 15.For use when mazda photoflash 

is sole light source. 

CC 25 and CC 34.Compensating filter combina¬ 

tion for White Flouorescent 
Lamps. 

Wratten No. 85B.To convert Type B film to day¬ 

light use (Reduces film speed to 
Weston 4 or GE 6). 

These filters are all for specific uses and 
their use assumes that the color balance of the 
light source is correct. For instance, if you 
use a Wratten 85B filter to convert Type B 
Kodachrome to daylight use the results will 
he satisfactory only if the sunlight color tem¬ 
perature at the time is about 5400 degrees Kel¬ 
vin. As involved as this sounds, it is no more 
of a problem than if you were shooting with 
daylight type film, for the Kodachrome result 
would he off color in any event if the light 
was badly out of balance. 

Pola-Screens 

In the early days of 35 mm. Kodachrome it 
was my observation that there was an “epi¬ 
demic” of Pola-Screen enthusiasm, without 
much regard to this filter’s true function. 
Properly used such a screen does produce rich 
dark blue skies, and some of the earlier Koda¬ 
chrome did seem to be improved by the use 
of such a device as the Pola-Screen. 

Like all other correction or compensating 
filters, the Pola-Screen does have definite uses. 
Sometimes its use is almost imperative. 

The principal uses to which a Pola-Screen 
can he put are: 

1. To darken the blue in the sky. Used at 
the camera lens, with camera axis approxi¬ 
mately 90 degrees to the sun’s rays. 

2. It will penetrate atmospheric haze more 
effectively than a haze filter. 

3. To reduce or eliminate reflections from 
surfaces 32 to 37 degrees to the camera axis. 

4. Two Pola-Screens, used together at the 
camera, will serve as a variable neutral den¬ 
sity filter, for use in photographing acetylene 
welding and such intense lights. 

5. Two Pola-Screens are needed for best 
reproduction of oil paintings. One is provided 
for use over the light source and the other at 
the camera. They are not interchangeable. 

As a closing caution, may I suggest that you 
use correction filters with restraint, and then 
only after you have thoroughly digested all 
the information furnished as to their Use, by 
the manufacturer. 


208 















CHAPTER 17 


THE CARE AND CHECKING OF EQUIPMENT 


VERYTHING that has been said 
in these or any other pages 
about exposure calculations is 
nullified in practice if your shut¬ 
ter mechanism is out of time or 
if it operates erratically. 

For some reason most of us assume without 
question that the shutter speed markings on 
our cameras mean what they say; that when 
we set the shutter for ]/ 2 or 1/25 second that 
the exposure interval will be that—no more, 
no less. 

Would that such were true. In black and 
white work a 50% inaccuracy in shutter speed 
makes but little difference in what we can 
get out of the final print for we can compen¬ 
sate for incorrect exposure through manipula¬ 
tion in print making, and sometimes in the 
development of the negative itself. 

One reason we are not too critical of ex¬ 
posure variations in black and white is due 
to the fact that the average human eye cannot 
detect less than a 10% variation in black and 
white tones (or brightness). But those same 
eyes can readily distinguish even a 5% varia¬ 
tion in color value. Since over- or under¬ 
exposure changes the local color of an object 
(as well as its value) our eyes spot this subtle 
difference in value because it is in color. 

In these pages we have talked about accu¬ 
racy in exposure within y 3 1/ stop. If you 
are to even approach any such accurate deter¬ 
mination you must know at what speeds your 
shutter operates. It will simplify your prob¬ 
lem considerably if you can have your shutter 
adjusted so that it operates with precision 
accuracy. I have never been able to secure 
such adjustments. If you cannot get your 
shutter set to coincide with the exact intervals 
for which it is calibrated, it is imperative that 
you know the percentage of error. Next to 
knowing this, it is highly important that you 


know that your shutters operate consistently, 
even though consistently in error. 

This inaccuracy in shutter speeds is not 
necessarily any indication that the mechanism 
is inferior. The three shutters I use most 
frequently (and they are recognized as of first 
quality) stay consistently fast or slow in 
spite of all efforts of the experts to make them 
perform otherwise. One shutter operates 
within 5% of correct at all speeds below 1/50. 
Another is consistently fast, from 40% fast at 
y 2 second to 60% fast at 1/25. The third 
shutter is just as consistently slow, being 20% 
slow at l / 2 second up to 50% slow at 1/10. 

Knowing the percentage of error at each 
speed I make the proper compensation in dia¬ 
phragm settings. The problem is much sim¬ 
plified if all speeds are slow or fast in the same 
percentage, for then you need only determine 
what new film factor will compensate for this 
fast or slow error. For instance, if you are 
shooting 35 mm. Kodachrome, which is rated 
at Weston 8 or GE 12, and your shutter is 
33% fast, you can use your Weston meter set 
on factor 6, and your calculations will call for 
y 3 {/ stop more exposure, which will compen¬ 
sate for the 33% error in shutter speed. 

So much for the necessity for knowing your 
shutter speeds. We will outline a method for 
checking and calibrating such speeds in just 
a moment. 

While we are on the subject of the need for 
precision “tools” in color work we must not 
forget the necessity for a good lens—a color- 
corrected lens—in order to record the color 
quality which the Kodachrome film is capable 
of capturing. 

Without going into the intricacies of lenses 
too deeply, it will he helpful if we have some 
understanding of deficiencies in lenses that 
make them unusable for color work. 



209 


the care and checking of equipment 



134 

A synchronous electric 
motor adapted for use in 
checking the accuracy of 
between - the - lens shut¬ 
ters. The lights are pho¬ 
tographed as the turn¬ 
table revolves, and the 
exposure interval is re¬ 
corded by the degrees 
the extended light trav¬ 
els. 


Two common deficiencies, neither of which 
you can correct, are (1) discoloration in 
lenses, usually due to age, and (2) insufficient 
color correction. 

Discoloration in the lens glass or more 
likely in the lens cement will result in an over¬ 
all color cast in your transparencies regard¬ 
less of light condition. Usually this cast is a 
“brassy” sort of color, producing a cast in the 
transparency about like the color of a K1 
filter. You cannot overcome this condition 
successfully with a color correction filter. You 
will do better to confine your use of such a 
lens to black and white work, where such 
color cast may actually serve as a slight filter 
correction. I have a thirty year old lens that 
is so strongly discolored that it gives a correc¬ 
tion equivalent to a K2 filter. For black and 
white it is quite all right. 

The second deficiency in lenses—that of in¬ 
sufficient color correction—practically elimi¬ 
nates them for color shooting. 

As you know the various color bands in the 
spectrum have different wave lengths. Due to 
this difference in wave length each color tends 
to come to focus at a different point or at a 
different plane. With a lens that is not color 
corrected, when the blue wave lengths are in 


proper focus on the film in the camera, the 
green will be slightly out of focus, and the red 
very much more so. In a Kodachrome trans¬ 
parency made with a very had lens, the out¬ 
lines of trees, for instance, may show up with 
a faint red tinge. This effect is caused by a 
difference in size between the blue and the 
red image on the film. 

These deficiencies in lenses and shutters 
need not disturb you too much for you can 
check and calibrate your shutter, and if you 
have any one of dozens of good lenses the 
chances are very good that it is sufficiently 
color corrected to produce satisfactory results. 

Checking Shutter Speeds 

If you have any reason to suspect that your 
Kodachrome exposures are not as accurate as 
your calculations suggest they should be, by 
all means check your shutter before you make 
another color shot. Do not blame all your 
difficulties on processing and such, for 10 to 1 
the fault is in your shutter. 

A simple gadget for checking between-the- 
lens shutters can be improvised with a syn¬ 
chronous phonograph motor. This type is 
preferable to a spring propelled motor be¬ 
cause the speed of an electric one is constant. 


210 




THE CARE AND CHECKING OF EQUIPMENT 



As illustrated in Figure 134, wire two focus¬ 
ing type flashlight bulbs in a circuit with a 
flashlight battery. Mount battery on the turn¬ 
table in any way so it will stay put. Mount one 
bulb centered over the center point of the 
turntable, and the other bulb on an arm 
(twisted wire is sufficient) extending to the 
edge of the turntable or a little beyond. 

With the motor and lights on the floor set 
your camera on a tripod, with the camera 
centered over the turntable, some three feet 
above the motor. 

Load the camera with Super X or other fast 
film, turn on the flashlight bulbs and revolve 
the turntable to check position of the lights 
on the ground glass or in the finder. Be sure 
the light on the extension arm stays well 
within the area of the film. 

With camera position set, stop diaphragm 
to f/6.3 or f/8, turn out room lights, start the 
motor and make an exposure at your slowest 
shutter speed. Stop the motor, turn on room 
lights and set shutter for the next faster speed. 

The flashlight bulbs will expose a dot for 
the center light and a line in an arc from the 
extension arm light, as shown in Figure 135. 



Measured Indicated 

Speed Speed 

TEST (Seconds) (Seconds) % of Error 

B 9/468 .019 .02 (1/50) Fast 5.0% 

C 20/468 .043 .04 (1/25) Slow 7.5% 

D 35/468 .075 .10 (1/10) Fast 25.0% 

E 82/468 .175 .20 (1/5) Fast 12.5% 

F 203/468 .434 .50 (1/2) Fast 13.2% 

G 296/468 .633 1.00 (1) Fast 36.7% 



211 





























THE CARE AND CHECKING OF EQUIPMENT 

If you want to conserve film you can expose 
several speeds on one film. If you are using 
small size film I would recommend exposing 
a new frame for each speed, as all possible 
confusion will be eliminated. If your film is 
4x5 or larger you can easily make four ex¬ 
posures on one film (one exposure on each 
quarter area of the film). 

Now to check the speeds. A synchronous 
motor revolves the turntable 78 revolutions 
per minute. In one second it will revolve 
78/60ths of a revolution or 1.3 revolution. 
Since one revolution is 360 degrees, 1.3 revo¬ 
lution is 468 degrees. That means that the 
flashlight bulb on the extension arm will re¬ 
volve 468 degrees in 1 second, 234 degrees in 
y 2 second, 94 degrees in 1/5 second, 47 degrees 
in 1/10 second, about 19 degrees in 1/25 sec¬ 
ond, and so on. 

With a sharp needle, scratch lines on the 
film from the center dot of each shutter speed 
exposure to the ends of the arc described 
during that exposure. With a protractor you 
can quickly determine the degrees of each 
angle, as shown in Figure 136. 

If you have a 35 mm. still projector a very 
simple and perhaps more accurate method of 
checking negative recordings is to make each 
exposure in a film area size small enough so 
that it can be cut from the film, inserted be¬ 
tween slide glass and projected onto a large 
card (about 24" x 24") on which you have 
described a circle marked off in segments de¬ 
termined by the degrees before mentioned— 
468 for 1 second, 94 for 1/5 and the other 
degrees for other speeds. See Figure 137. This 
enlarged size will make possible a more accu¬ 
rate check of the exact angle and arc made 
by each shutter speed. A protractor can be 
used to determine the percentage of error in 



speeds, by measuring the angle of the arc on 
the film and calculating the slow or fast varia¬ 
tion from the segments on the graph. 

Checking Color Correction 
Of Lenses 

There are two simple tests anyone can make, 
and the results are just as easily checked. 

1. Stretch two or three small wires across 
the face of a light box or illuminator. Over 
these wires place strips of gelatine filters, as 
indicated in Figure 138. These filters must be 
K2 (yellow), C (blue),B (green), A (red). 

Turn on the light in the box, turn out the 
lights in the room, and photograph the light 
box on panchromatic film. 

If your lens is corrected for lateral-color 
the wires will appear as straight, unbroken 
lines. If not color corrected the wires will ap¬ 
pear as broken lines, as indicated by Figure 
138. 

2. The second method is to stretch several 
fine white threads, parallel, across a black 
velvet background. Make three exposures on 
panchromatic plates, each through one of the 
Wratten tricolor gelatine filters. After plates 
have been processed and dried, make a con¬ 
tact positive plate from one of the negative 
plates. All plates should be developed to low 
contrast. 

When the positive plate has been processed 
and dried, register it (emulsion to emulsion) 
on each of the other two negatives, over an 
illuminator. If the thread lines at the outer 
edges of the plates do not register, the lens 
is not suitable for good color work. Any lack 
of register will be due to the fact that the 
images made separately through the red, 
green and blue filters are not the same size. 



eral color correction. 


212 









































CHAPTER 18 


MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODAGHROME 


E VEN though every good Koda- 
chrome is a fine color record of 
the subject it captured, and is 
satisfying and sometimes thrill¬ 
ing, every Kodachrome enthusi¬ 
ast gets an occasional shot that cries for per¬ 
petuation in color print form. 

All of us are by now accustomed to viewing 
transparencies direct or by projection, but 
nothing will ever completely take the place 
of a good color print. And every prize Koda¬ 
chrome transparency will bring you redoubled 
pleasure if you make (or have made) a full 
color, enlarged print of it. And no small 
amount of that pleasure can be enjoyed in 
the process of making the print. 

At the outset I should warn you that this 
discussion will not include detailed instruc¬ 
tions for making color prints. Space does not 
permit detailing all the methods and processes 
available—Wash-off Relief, Chromotone, Neo¬ 
tone, Orthotone, Carbro, and several others 
that are variations of one or more of these 
better known methods. Such instructions can 
be secured from the manufacturers of the 
materials used in each process. 

Rather, this chapter will attempt to assure 
you that the making of good color prints is 
not as difficult nor as mysterious as so much 
technical data may suggest. 

For several reasons we will confine our prin¬ 
cipal considerations to the technique of Wash- 
off Relief prints, the Eastman process, or 
Curtis Orthotone which is very similar. One 
reason for suggesting this method is that it 
more nearly approaches the character of 
Kodachrome. Both transparency and print 
are made up of dye images and dye colors, 
and the imbibition or dye printing medium 
seems to more accurately reproduce the bril¬ 


liance and color scale of the Kodachrome 
original. 

A perfectly natural question is, “What is 
a Wash-off Relief color print from Koda¬ 
chrome?”. It is merely a process by which 
one figuratively takes a Kodachrome apart 
and then puts it back together again, same 
size or larger, but on a paper support instead 
of on a transparent one. 

How is the Kodachrome taken apart—each 
of the three dye image layers separated and 
isolated? If you are familiar with the struc¬ 
ture of Kodachrome you know that it is made 
up of three superimposed emulsion layers, the 
top one being dyed yellow, the middle one 
magenta, and the bottom one (next to the 
support) is dyed cyan or blue-green. 

The dyes used in making a Wash-off Relief 
print are these same three colors, although 
the dyes supplied for the Eastman and Curtis 
processes vary slightly in kind of color. For 
instance, the Curtis yellow is more toward a 
lemon; the Eastman is more of a chrome 
yellow. The character of your subject sug¬ 
gests which yellow will more nearly repro¬ 
duce the Kodachrome. While we are digres¬ 
sing a bit, it might be added that a lemon 
yellow will produce better greens but it is 
difficult to make a good chrome orange with 
it. 

If we are going to “separate” the three 
Kodachrome layers we must get the yellow 
image layer “out” of the transparency and into 
some form which we can use in making the 
yellow image in the color print. The same is 
true of the magenta and the blue-green. 

Making Separation Negatives 

As you probably know, the first step in 
separating the three Kodachrome layers is 
the making of separation negatives , each of 
(Continued on page 217) 


213 


PHOTOGRAPHING AUTUMN COLOR IN KODACHROME 


One of the most thrilling color subjects for Kodachrome photography is the clean, fresh 
brilliance of gorgeous masses of frost-painted Autumn foliage. 

The Kodachrome shot reproduced here only partially expresses the full intensity of the 
color in either the Kodachrome transparency or the scene itself. Literally, this Aspen grove 
was bathed in colored light—colored light transmitted and reflected through and by the thou¬ 
sands of quaking leaves, some brilliant little colored mirrors, others transmitting colored light 
almost as effectively as though they were color filters. Under such conditions the light itself 
seems to be colored at the source. Evidence of this colored light is observed on the ground and 
on the bark of the trees, in the illustration herewith. 

Such subjects are intensely colorful even in flat light. But when shot back-lighted, the light 
transmitted through the foliage adds to the intensity of the color in somewhat the same way 
transmitted light increases the intensity of the color in a Kodachrome transparency. 

Data: Exposed on 4x5 cut film Kodachrome; Camera, Speed Graphic; Lens, 5*4 inch Zeiss 
Tessar; Filter, Harrison “Coralite” C 1 /^ (to increase color saturation). The reproduction is four 
color process, letterpress, plates made direct from the transparency. 






















MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 


which is a negative image of one of the three 
colors. Since we must first go to a negative 
image and then to a positive image (the posi¬ 
tives which are used in transferring the dye 
to the paper), these negatives must be made 
through color filters that are complementary 
to the color layers in the Kodachrome and 
likewise complementary to the three colors 
used as printing dyes. 

That means using a green filter to make a 
negative image of the magenta Kodachrome 
layer. We call that the green record or the 
red printer negative. A blue filter makes the 
yellow printer negative, and a red filter is 
used for the blue-green printer negative. If 
this process was carried to its ultimate con¬ 
clusion, and the negatives were dyed in the 
colors they represent, the one made with the 
red filter would be dyed red, and the green 
and blue filter negatives would be dyed in 
their respective colors. 

At this point you may have a clearer under¬ 
standing of the graphs shown on the first page 
of the chapter on “Sunlight Characteristics” 
(Figure 26) and the similar one on the first 
page of the “Artificial Light” chapter (Figure 
43). Those graphs may have seemed a little 
confusing in that they show the three emul¬ 
sion layers of Kodachrome as being sensitive 
to blue, green and red, when we know that 
the three layers or dye images in a Koda¬ 
chrome transparency are yellow, magenta and 
blue-green. 

Now that you realize that a Kodachrome 
film in the camera is a negative in tone values 
as well as color, the mystery of this matter 
of blue, green and red sensitivity is clarified. 

But to get back to our separation negatives. 
If you have ever inspected a set of such nega¬ 
tives, the illustrations Figures 144, 145 and 
146 will help you see what happens when a 
Kodachrome transparency is brought back, 
so to speak, to its original negative condition 
—the condition you have created when you 
expose it to a color subject. The principal 
difference is that the three Kodachrome nega¬ 
tives are superimposed on one support, while 
we are now seeing three separate and isolated 
ones. 

The negatives illustrated are those used in 
making a Wash-off Relief color print of the 
Indian Head subject which appears as the 
frontispiece of this book. 


Compare each of these three negatives with 
their corresponding positives shown in Figures 
147, 148 and 149. If you can visualize these 
three positives in their respective dye colors 
you will see one in tones of yellow, the second 
in tones of magenta, and the third in blue- 
green. And there you have the three layers 
or dye images of the original Kodachrome. 

So much for this phase of separating a 
Kodachrome transparency into its three con¬ 
stituent dye layers. 

Mashing for Contrast Control 

To avoid confusion in describing separation 
negatives and their function, we purposely 
omitted mention of one step in the process 
that is imperative in more cases than not. 
This step is masking the Kodachrome trans¬ 
parency with a light silver negative mask be¬ 
fore making the separation negatives through 
the three color filters. 

If you have ever done much photographic 
copying you know that the copy usually lacks 
much of the tonal quality of the original. The 
copy looks “hard”—the lightest tones of the 
original are “bald” in the copy and where the 
original had detail in dark shadows the copy 
records only a flat mass of black sans detail. 

When separation negatives are made with¬ 
out a mask on the transparency, the already 
excessive contrast of the Kodachrome (and 
most Kodachromes are on the contrasty side) 
will cause the negatives to block up in the 
highlight areas and lose detail in the shadows. 

The most common remedy is a silver nega¬ 
tive mask. This mask’s function is to shorten 
the scale of the Kodachrome so that the 
negatives will have about the length of scale 
found in the original Kodachrome. This mask 
is made on a Wratten Tricolor plate by expos¬ 
ing the plate through the back of the Koda¬ 
chrome. (This permits exposing the negative’s 
emulsion to emulsion of the Kodachrome, for 
maximum sharpness.) This exposure must be 
short enough to give fair coverage in all the 
light tone areas with little or no deposit in 
the shadow portions of the Kodachrome. As 
a negative it is a total loss, for it must be too 
weak to make any kind of paper print. Proper 
exposure time must be determined through 
experience, and varies somewhat with each 
Kodachrome, but a safe starting point is to 
give the mask about one-third the exposure 


217 


MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 



NO. 33 (XYLENE RED) 



140 


Wratten Filter used in making “Contrast 
Control” Negative Mask. 


141 


The Filter for making the Separation 
Negative from which the Blue-Green 
Printing Matrix is made. 


necessary to make a good black and white 
negative from that particular Kodachrome— 
good enough to make an average quality 
paper print. 

If the mask negative is too weak it will do 
little or no good. If it is too heavy it will 
cause a reversal in tone scale when the mask 
is superimposed on the Kodachrome. That is, 
the light tones of the Kodachrome will appear 
as dark or darker than the middle tones. 

Mask negatives should be developed to low 
contrast—for three minutes in DK-20 devel¬ 
oped at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. At the end of 
three minutes put the mask negative in a 1% 
acetic stop bath, then fix in fresh, acid hard¬ 
ening hypo long enough to remove all or most 
of the “pinkish” dye backing on the plate. 
Then wash thoroughly and dry. 

When dry, place the mask face up on a light 
box and register the Kodachrome emulsion 
side up, and tape to hold in position with 
“Scotch” Cellulose tape around the margins 
of the Kodachrome. As is obvious, this pro¬ 
cess will be much simplified if the mask nega¬ 
tive is next size larger than the Kodachrome, 
for you will then have liberal margins on the 
plate for the tape. 

The mask should be made through a filter. 
For general use the Wratten No. 33 serves 
very well. However, there is another trick 
used by some workers in this mask making 
that often enhances results. It is the use of 
filters of other colors—the color used being 
determined by the color in the Kodachrome 
which you want to emphasize, or at least hold 
with a minimum of loss in color saturation in 
the print. Suppose the subject is a bed of 



200 J00 400 500 600 700 



The Filter for making the Separation 
Negative from which the Magenta Print¬ 
ing Matrix is made. 



The Filter for making the Separation 
Negative from which the Yellow Printing 
Matrix is made. 



yellow tulips and that the blossoms occupy 
a rather large area. A yellow filter for the 
mask making will build up the density of the 
mask in that area; this excess density will 
appear as less than normal density on the 


218 


































































































MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 


yellow printer negative (made through the 
blue filter) ; and the density, in this area, will 
then be greater in the yellow positive, or 
printing matrix, which in turn will impart a 
greater intensity of yellow to that portion in 
the print. 

Now that the mask is made, you are ready 
to make the separation negatives. The mask 
will hold back the highlights and permit an 
exposure that will tend to hold detail (if 
there is any in the Kodachrome) in the 
shadows. 

From here on follow the best and latest 
instructions you can find, in proceeding with 
the exposure and development of the separa¬ 
tion negatives. 

Mafeiiig the Printing Positives 

Assuming your separation negatives are in 
“balance” (an elusive term at best) the next 
step is to expose, develop, bleach, fix, harden 
and wash the Wash-off Relief film, in line 
with whatever instructions you have chosen 
to follow. These relief gelatin positives, or 
matrices, are your printing “plates,” except 
that you use dyes instead of printer’s ink, and 
the transfer of color to paper is through im¬ 
bibition instead of contact pressure as in 
letterpress printing. 

There are several ways to check this matter 
of balance. One is through the expensive, 
scientific (but sometimes fallible) way of 
densitometer readings of the negatives, to 
check their density as well as scale of con¬ 
trast. If you prefer less science and more of 
the personal touch in your print making, you 
can safely depend upon visual comparison of 
bromide prints made from the three negatives, 
all prints given the same exposure and de¬ 
velopment. 

If the Kodachrome contains any area of 
white, light gray or practically neutral gray, 
that area should have an identical tone value 
in each of the three bromides. As we have 
discussed before, a neutral gray is made with 
a balanced amount of each of the three dye 
colors in the Kodachrome, and likewise in the 
color print. If the red is a little too strong 
the gray will not be neutral, but will appear 
as a pinkish gray. If too strong in blue or 
yellow, the gray will have a cast of the excess 
color. 


Obviously then, a comparison of the three 
bromides will give you an accurate check, for 
if the whites or grays “balance” in the three 
bromides, the separation negatives may be 
said to be in balance. 

A third method for checking balance is 
through the use of a gray scale. You can buy 
silver gray scales for inclusion with the Koda¬ 
chrome when you make separation negatives, 
placing it so it will appear on the margin of 
the negatives and outside the print area. This 
silver gray scale idea is quite helpful to the 
beginner, as it gives him a definite yardstick 
by which to judge exposure and development 
times. He will know that these two operations 
have been done correctly when and if the 
gray scales match in the three negatives. In 
practice these gray scales are not so accurate 
in determining color balance, due to the fact 
that they are a silver image and the Koda¬ 
chrome is a dye image. Even though the 
scales match, you will probably find it neces¬ 
sary to do some manipulating of dye balance 
when you get to the making of the print itself. 

The ideal arrangement would be to have a 
gray scale photographed in the Kodachrome. 
It would be ideal if the gray scale could be 
set at the edge of the composition in such a 
way that it got the same full illumination 
the scene is getting and if at the same time 
the gray scale could be shielded from all in¬ 
fluence of surrounding reflected, colored light. 
And that is next to impossible, as you can 
realize. If the scale is turned slightly toward 
the sky it will appear bluish in the Koda¬ 
chrome instead of neutral gray; if it is turned 
toward the ground, or is near a tree or bush, 
these surfaces will cast some of their own 
color on the scale. 

By and large, the best guide is careful study 
of the Kodachrome itself and then through 
experience learn how to compensate for the 
differences in the various Kodachromes with 
which you work. But in these compensations 
do not go far afield in the matter of exposure 
and development times, for a little alteration 
one way or another goes a long way in affect¬ 
ing final color balance in the print. 

The one point we have not proved in all 
these balance checks is that of the general 
“key” or overall value the color print is going 
to have in comparison with the Kodachrome. 


219 


MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 




146 

144 — Negative made with Blue Filter, from which Yel¬ 
low Printing Matrix is made. 

145 — Negative made with Red Filter, from which Blue- 
Green Printing Matrix is made. 

146 — Negative made with Green Filter, from which 
Magenta Printing Matrix is made. 


If the negatives have too much density and the 
matrices, or printing positives have too little, 
the color print will be keyed too high and the 
principal loss will be in color saturation, with 
probably considerable loss of tone in the high¬ 
lights. The print will be “anemic.” If the 
matrices are too heavy, the print will be dark 
and heavy, and what appears as very dark, 
low value color in the Kodachrome will be 
all but colorless near blacks in the print. Re¬ 
member that the three dye colors, heavily 
superimposed, create a black or visually color¬ 
less dark gray. 

Some correction for excessively thin or 
dense matrices can be secured through altera¬ 
tion of the acid percentage in the printing 
dyes, as your instructions will tell you. How¬ 
ever, no such alteration will put tone where 


220 





MAKING COLOR PRINTS PROM KODACHROME 




147 

147 — Yellow Positive from Blue Filter Negative, Figure 
144. 

148 — Magenta Positive from Green Filter Negative, 
Figure 146. 

149— Blue-Green Positive from Red Filter Negative, 
Figure 145. 


148 (above) 


(below) 149 


none appears in the matrix, nor detail in a 
shadow that is too dense on the matrix, or on 
all three matrices. 

While your thought is on this matter of 
balance, study the reproductions of the posi¬ 
tives used in making the Indian Head print. 
Compare the tone values (or such of them as 
can he preserved in a reduced size halftone 
printing plate) with the colors in the Color 
Plate in the front of the book. First compare 
the whites in the three positives, then the 
weak intensity colors, and last, the strong, 
relatively pure colors. But the significant 
truth is that few colors in our pictures are 
pure colors, fortunately. You will notice that 
the strongest colors in the Indian Head picture 
contain a more or less “tempering” amount of 
the other two colors. 



221 





MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 


Retouching Separation Negatives 

Do not be careless in handling Kodachrome 
transparencies from which you expect to make 
color prints. Principally because dust spots 
and other defects cannot be successfully re¬ 
touched out in separation negatives by anyone 
except a professional color retoucher for when 
one negative is retouched, the other two nega¬ 
tives must be retouched in the same area, and 
in proper color balance. 

Some correction can be made in entire 
areas, such as holding back the excess red in 
a sky, for instance, by painting a thin coat of 
nucosine over this area of the green filter 
negative (the magenta printer). But this must 
he done lightly and evenly or the result will 
be streaks in the sky. 

This inability to retouch separation nega¬ 
tives makes make-up—careful make-up—im¬ 
perative in portrait work. Do a careful, flaw¬ 
less job of make-up on the subject and there 
is no necessity for retouching. 

Retouching Color Prints 

In spite of your best efforts, finished prints 
will invariably show small spots where one 
or more of the three colors are missing. Mat¬ 
rices will often get slightly scratched or pitted 
in handling. Suppose you get a scratch in the 
sky area of the red matrix. This scratch will 
appear green in the print, as it is minus red. 
You can carefully spot in the red (using the 
red dye) with a fine soft brush. Do not try 
to add too much color at one time. Put on a 
little red, greatly diluted with water, then 
when dry add a little more, and so on. Do not 
work on one spot too long at a time as you 
may destroy the gelatin. 

Another spotting method in cases like the 
scratch in the sky is to fill in the red on the 
print after you have transferred the red and 
before you transfer the yellow and blue. 

Progressive Steps in Print Making 

The following list of the consecutive steps 
in color print making are not to be interpreted 
as complete instructions but rather to give you 
a comprehensive grasp of the undertaking, and 
some of the materials necessary. If you wish 
to try your hand at this fascinating phase of 
color photography, and prefer to follow the 
dye printing method, I urge you to get the 


latest issued instructions (they are revised 
occasionally) on the Eastman Wash-off Relief 
or Curtis Orthotone process before attempting 
any serious print making. Study those instruc¬ 
tions until you thoroughly understand every 
step—the effort will save you time and mate¬ 
rial. 

1. Make Contrast Control Mask on Wratten 
Panchromatic plate (not film). Expose, in 
contact, through the back of the Kodachrome, 
if you are going to make the separation nega¬ 
tives by contact. Masks can be made emulsion 
to emulsion if negatives are to be made by 
projection. Exposure should be about % time 
needed for a good printable negative from 
that Kodachrome. Develop 2 l / 2 to 3 minutes 
in DK20 at 70°F. Fix, wash, sponge off water 
spots and dry in dustless room. 

2. Register Mask and Kodachrome. Hold 
in position with Scotch Cellulose tape. The 
task will be easier if you have made the Mask 
on a plate one size larger than the Koda¬ 
chrome. 

3. If Kodachrome is 3 1 / 4x4 1 / 4 or larger, 
make separation negatives by contact. With 
Mask made through the back of the Koda¬ 
chrome, the Kodachrome and separation nega¬ 
tive material will be emulsion to emulsion, as 
it should be. Use mazda light source, deep in 
a printing box, and diffused for even illumina¬ 
tion. Photoflood lamps will permit shorter 
exposure, which is often desirable. 

4. Use Tri-X Panchromatic film for nega¬ 
tives. Separation filters are Wratten No. 29 
(Red), No. 61 (Green), and No. 49 C4 (Blue). 
No exposure times can be given because of 
variations in light source. But filter factors 
under normal conditions are about 

Red (No. 29). 10 Seconds 

Green (No. 61). 40 Seconds 

Blue (No. 49). 90 Seconds 

Only through tests can you determine prop¬ 
er ratios for your working conditions. (Read 
the suggestions on a previous page for deter¬ 
mining balance.) 

5. Tray develop the three separation nega¬ 
tives, together, in DK20 at 70°, and do not 
carry contrast too far. In fact the negatives 
should, by ordinary printing standards, be 
very much on the “soft” side. Density vari¬ 
ation will not cause much trouble, within 
reasonable limits, hut excess contrast will 
defy all efforts at securing a good print. 


222 





MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 


Fix, wash, sponge off and hang to dry, all 
three by the same corresponding corner. 

6. When separation negatives are dry, you 
are ready to expose the Wash-off Relief film 
—the positives with which you transfer the 
dye to the paper support. If you are printing 
by contact, use a small light source three feet 
or more from an 8x10 inch film—somewhat 
closer if smaller film is being used. If you are 
printing by projection, mark film carrier so 
that all negatives will occupy the same posi¬ 
tion, otherwise you may waste much on the 
margins of the print, through lack of register 
on margins. 

Make test exposures with the red filter nega¬ 
tive on strips of the Wash-off film, placed to 
catch extremes of contrast in the negative, and 
be sure to include the highest light in the 
picture. Develop this positive film strip (no 
need to fix it) and examine by Safelight O or 
OA. The highlights should show the faintest 
trace of “veiling”—no bald spots. If highlights 
are hald, give next test strip more exposure. 
When test produces a satisfactory result, ex¬ 
pose Wash-off Relief film, from each negative, 
according to time determined by the test. Ex¬ 
pose through the support side of the film. 

7. Develop positives in DK50 at 70°, for 
five minutes. Develop each separately, and 
each in the same amount of fresh developer. 
Tray develop, and rock continuously and uni¬ 
formly. 

8. Wash each positive separately, for 10 
minutes in running water with an Automatic 
Tray Siphon. 

9. Bleach the positives in the solution list¬ 
ed in your instructions. If tray bleached, rock 
continuously to insure uniform action. 

10. You now develop the three relief 
images (the positives) in water kept at or 
near 125° Fahrenheit. If developed in a tray, 
do each positive separately, and gently agitate. 
Tilt tray so that loosened gelatin will flow out 
with the run-off water, otherwise it will settle 
and adhere to the film. About four or five 
minutes should give full development. If the 
safe edges of the film are not clear of all 
gelatin the films are not fully washed out. 

10a. A preferable method is to first develop 
the reliefs in two or three changes of hot 
water, then finish development (about 2 min¬ 
utes) in a generous amount of a 20% solution 
of ammonium thiocyanate, at about 68°. This 


solution does not break down readily and may 
be used for a considerable period. 

11. Drain the positives and put in Fixing 
Bath, each in a separate tray. 

12. After fixing, give a thorough washing 
in circulating water. 

13. The gelatin of the positives should be 
hardened with a formalin bath, to protect 
them against damage in later handling. 
Whether you “bleach” the stain image is a 
matter of choice. 

14. After positives are dryed, place each in 
its proper dye bath (according to instruc¬ 
tions), put a piece of pre-mordanted support 
paper to soak in water, and when the positives 
are fully dyed rinse each and then super¬ 
impose the three on a white slab or in a large 
clean tray, in register, to check color balance. 
The superimposed positives, in effect, form a 
transparency. In this superimposed state the 
result will appear a little less red, with a faint 
greenish cast—or should—as the red will come 
up in transferring and drying. This greenish 
cast is partly due to the fact that you are 
seeing the dye image through three layers of 
film support. 

15. As your instructions will tell you, the 
amount of dye pickup or color saturation, in 
any one or all of the positives can be con¬ 
trolled within limits by increasing or decreas¬ 
ing the amount of acid in the dye. 

16. After you have the color balance estab¬ 
lished, place the positives hack in their respec¬ 
tive dye baths and squeegee the paper support 
onto a plate glass, then rinse the red printer 
positive, lay on the paper to allow working 
margin all around, and let this red transfer 
for the proper time. A piece of plate glass 
laid on the positive will keep it in firm contact 
with the paper. After the red has transferred, 
register the yellow by first squeegeeing a sheet 
of thin Kodaloid over the paper support, 
leaving a working margin at the top of the 
print. When the yellow is in register, squeegee 
it lightly as a final check, then with it firmly 
held at top edge (with a bulldog clip), care¬ 
fully lift the yellow positive, slip the Kodaloid 
out, and then squeegee the yellow positive 
firmly and evenly. After this has transfered, 
follow the same process with the blue. 

Like every worthwhile art, color print mak¬ 
ing requires a deft touch and great pains and 
practice no end. Do not become overconfident 


223 


MAKING COLOR PRINTS FROM KODACHROME 


with “beginner’s” luck—there is more to the 
technique of color print making than meets 
the eye. But the same is true of all the arts, 
and real print making is certainly a real art. 

Black and White Prints from 
Kodttchrome 

Any good quality, properly exposed Koda- 
chrome will make an excellent black and 
white negative, although it is sometimes neces¬ 
sary to use a filter to produce the best tone 
quality. 

No filter is necessary if the Kodachrome has 
good contrast in both color and value. How¬ 
ever, most transparencies taken in flat light, 
of subjects that have little color contrast, pro¬ 
duce a somewhat “flat” negative unless a filter 
is used. This flatness can be overcome to a 
degree by developing the negative for more 
contrast than is normally desired. 

For general use the No. 33 Xylene Red Fil¬ 
ter, graph of which is shown on page 218, 
produces negatives rich in tone quality. A K1 
or K2 Filter works best on color subjects with 
weak Kodachrome skies, as well as on others 
where such filters will give the proper correc¬ 
tion. Even green or red filters can be used for 
dramatic effects. 

Panatomic X is a good film for negatives 
from Kodachrome. If you are working with 
35 mm. Kodachrome, make a 3 1 / 4x4 1 / 4 or 4x5 
negative by projection, to eliminate all pos¬ 
sibility of grain if you should make 11x14 or 
larger prints. If your Kodachrome is 2 1 / 4x3 1 / 4 
or larger, contact negatives should cause no 
grain trouble. 

Properly made negatives from good Koda- 
chromes can produce black and white prints 
of exceptional quality. 

Waking Duplicate Kodachromes 

Before you become too enthusiastic about 
“multiplying” some of your prize Koda¬ 
chromes, remember that there is always con¬ 
siderable loss in any photographic copying. 
Duplicating a Kodachrome is no exception, 
and the loss is often quite noticeable because 
one’s eyes detect loss in color much more 
readily than they detect the same percentage 
of loss in black and white tones. 

If you wish to duplicate a Kodachrome, first 
make test exposures on panchromatic film 
until you get a negative of proper density. 

224 


Then expose Artificial Light type Koda¬ 
chrome for an exposure interval based on the 
relation between the film speed of the Koda¬ 
chrome and the panchromatic film used. If 
the pan film has three times the speed of 
Kodachrome (both by artificial light), expose 
the Kodachrome three times that given the 
pan film. 

A common and serious problem is the ten¬ 
dency toward excess contrast in the duplicates. 
The best remedy is to mask the original Koda¬ 
chrome with a negative silver mask, as de¬ 
scribed for Contrast Control, on page 217. 

Study the Color Plates 

If you have not tried your hand at color 
print making, I suggest you first study the 
reproductions of the negatives and positives 
of the “Indian Head” print (pages 218, 220, 
221). This will give you some idea of the cut 
of the filters, and what tones in the positives 
produce what colors. Then turn back to the 
Color Plates in this book and try to analyze 
each one in terms of the three colors which 
made the image in the original Kodachrome 
from which these color plates were made. 

Such studied examination will help you see 
what colors combine to make other colors, and 
how subtle variations are created with such 
slight deposit of two or three of the three dye 
colors yellow, magenta and blue-green. 

Art in Color Prints 

It is all well and good to be technically 
proficient, but logarithms and a slide rule will 
not necessarily produce artistically pleasing 
pictures. This is not to encourage careless 
work or disregard of the “rules,” but do not 
become enslaved to an obsession to faithfully 
reproduce every Kodachrome. Oftentimes 
some deviation from the Kodachrome will 
result in a finer print. 

In line with this thought may I suggest that 
you study the Kodachrome copy from an art 
viewpoint before you start print making pro¬ 
cesses on that shot. Decide whether you can 
improve upon its color quality or color effect, 
and point your efforts in that direction. Also 
learn which Kodachromes will make good 
prints and which will not. No need to waste 
time and material on a bad piece of color 
copy. 



T HE previous two hundred and eighteen pages have talked color— 
nothing but color—so much so that one could easily acquire a 
distorted perspective of this fascinating subject. Not that color 
and color photography have been oversold in these pages, but we may 
have lost sight of color’s proper relationship to the general scheme of 
things. 

Without deprecating its importance, and certainly without discourag¬ 
ing your interest and my interest in this intriguing phase of our environ¬ 
ment, color alone is as formless as sound. It must be admitted that color 
without form is not a complete art, and of the two, form is unquestion¬ 
ably the more important. 

It has been said, and rather pertinently, that color bears the same 
relationship to form that music does to language. Music and color appeal 
to the emotions—form and language appeal to the intellect. Combine 
music with language and color with form and you call into play qualities 
of both mind and feeling. 

The next time you hear someone criticize a work in color because it 
is not a riot of boisterous hues remember that only civilized, educated 
and cultivated tastes can appreciate the more subtle and harmonious 
use of color. 

A famous French historian points out that the lower down in the 
scale of civilization one explores, the more stress is laid on color and 
the less on form. 

On the one extreme we find the African savage who delights in wild 
splashes of intense color, hut he has no appreciation for the importance 
of form. On the other extreme, Greek art and architecture has never 
been surpassed in beauty of form, and color was used primarily to 
complement and enhance that beauty. 

There are significant suggestions in this thought of the relationship 
of form and color. 

* # * * * 


If you are not a movie enthusiast you probably missed the suggestion 
in Chapter 15 that you study professional color movies for what they 
may teach in lighting for color; in color schemes; color emphasis on the 
theme or center of interest in the picture. Note how often an entire 
setting is done in related colors against which is spotted a principal figure 


225 























in a complementary or contrasting color. Quite often there is equal con¬ 
trast in both value and intensity of the colors used. 

It has cost the movie producer thousands of dollars to learn how to 
create pleasingly effective use of color. You can profit by being observing. 

* * * * * 

There is no point in “fussing” with the exacting demands of color 
photography unless you enjoy doing the job as much as you thrill to 
the result of well planned efforts. 

You learn and progress when you coordinate manual efforts with a 
mental picture of the result you are striving to produce. If you cannot 
see a beautiful picture before your camera there is even less likelihood 

that the final result will be beautiful. 

* * » * * 

Do not attempt to follow the technique or style of any color photog¬ 
rapher. Do your own thinking. Start with a motive—a desire to create 
a picture—to tell a story. You can buy gadgets and expensive equipment 
but they will never substitute for creative ability. The expensive equip¬ 
ment has no power to make a picture by itself, any more than does a 
paint brush or an artist’s canvas. Do not worry too much about develop¬ 
ing technique, that will come automatically as you progress in this 
medium of color. 

***** 

Remember that all efforts at exposure calculations are worse than 
wasted if your shutter is erratic or out of adjustment. Defective shutters 

are the greatest wasters of film. 

***** 

If you sometimes feel that the portrait painter has the advantage of 
being able to alter his picture as he works remember that you, as a color 
photographer, more than counter that with your ability to capture, in 
an instant, that spark of animation, tilt of head, swing of figure, or other 
momentary pose that “makes” a portrait. The painter is obliged to paint 
from memory that fleeting expression you catch with a click of the 
shutter. 

* * * * * 

For the sake of your progress in color photography I hope you are 
regularly disappointed when you first view every new lot of your Koda- 
chromes as they come from the processing laboratory. This should not 
discourage you, but your fresh eye will instantly spot how you could 
have improved every shot. Then is the time to be excessively critical of 
your own work. 

After a few days those same shots will look pretty good. No doubt 
they are better than your first impression of them, if you are at all 
critical. But do not forget your first reaction, and make the next shots 

better for your self-criticism. 

***** 

While reading some of the early chapters some of you may have felt 
that there was too much art and not enough photography in those dis¬ 
cussions. I have no inclination to question your first impression. But I 
believe the “art” angle (if you wish to call it that) will help you develop 


“post script” 


a fuller and more enjoyable appreciation of color—all color everywhere 
and this cultivated “eye for color” will automatically become the basis 
for your own greatly improved color photography. 

* * * * * 

Have you checked or had your shutter checked lately? Why waste 
expensive film on “guess” exposures? 

***** 

Do not be hesitant in attempting Kodachrome shots under unusual 
and dramatic light, such as storms, “sunbursts,” landscapes in late eve- 
ning light and other shots under “unorthodox” conditions. It is a little 
difficult to determine exposure on such scenes, hut you have considerable 
leeway as you are after a dramatic effect rather than a faithful rendition 
of color. 

The artist’s mental approach to landscape pictures is just the op¬ 
posite of that of the average color photographer. The artist would seldom 
paint a landscape under a noonday sun and cloudless sky. The condition 
is too ordinary to be either impressive or artistic. 

Too many color photographers shy away from the situation the artist 
would be delighted to find. True, the photographer cannot “compensate” 
for unfavorably lighted areas in the composition, but many is the color 
shot—dramatic shot—passed by only because the photographer falsely 
believes he must always have full, brilliant sunshine for effective Koda¬ 
chrome results. The next time you happen upon a “dramatic” scene, 
shoot it. It will give you courage to tackle the unusual. 

***** 

Many a time I have seen Kodachrome enthusiasts pass up beautiful 
landscape shots because of cloud shadows. Too bad. If they could only 
realize that distant cloud shadows add strength and color saturation to 
often otherwise monotonous expanses. Such shadows will not go black 
in Kodachrome (as foreground shadows often will) as they are luminous, 
unless, of course, they fall on excessively dark surfaces. 

And thankful you should he when cloud shadows give strength to 
distant horizons which would otherwise fade into the sky in a washy 
indefiniteness. 

***** 

If many of the ideas suggested in these pages seem too obvious, 
remember that it is the obvious that is too often overlooked. You know 
many of the things you should do better than they have been expressed 
herein, but do you remember them at the right time? It is all well and 
good to think in grandiose terms hut fine pictures are the result of 
doing a number of small things well, with all coordinated toward a 
common purpose. 

***** 

Remind me to remind you that most of your exposure difficulties may 
be due to a faulty shutter. It may be erratic, or it may be consistently 
out of time. (No, you are mistaken, I do not own a shutter checking 
business.) 


227 


“post script” 


If any of you have suspected that the full color illustrations shown 
in this book are presented as the ultimate of perfection, may I disabuse 
your mind of any such conception. Every subject was selected because 
it demonstrated some phase of color photography, and not as a salon 
exhibit. The reproductions cannot convey certain subtle characteristics 
of the original Kodachromes for there is much unavoidable loss in 
engraving and printing processes. 

***** 

If you have a “technical” mind, the mechanics of color photography 
will come easily. But do not be so technically perfect in your approach 
to every color problem that you forget what really makes a picture. 
Correct exposure and faithful rendition of colors in the subject should 
be taken for granted, and not considered as the ultimate accomplishment. 
Too many technically minded individuals never get beyond the act of 
making “color records” of photographic subjects. A fine color record is 
not necessarily a picture. 

***** 

Before I close, permit me to mention, again, that little matter of 
being sure your shutter is operating properly. 

* * * * * 

If you have learned half as much from reading the previous ninety 
thousand words as I have in writing them, you have greatly added to 
your fund of knowledge on this immense subject of color photography. 
It is one thing to know a thousand and one miscellaneous and unrelated 
facts that are the accumulation of a quarter of a century of experience 
in the graphic arts, and quite another matter to correlate and system¬ 
atize those facts in written (and I hope, intelligent) form so that some 
one else can profit from those experiences and the conclusions to be 
drawn from them. It has been a marvelous exercise in ordering my 
own thinking, and in making me skeptical of every hastily arrived at 
conclusion. 

I assure you that you will find no purposely presented overstatement 
of any fact in this book. Where positive proof is not available, the latest 
known information is given, or the statement is qualified. 

If this book adds even a whit to your progress and success in color 
photography it will be through having expanded your horizons, sharp¬ 
ened your perceptions and inspired a new appreciation for the possi¬ 
bilities in this comparatively new and yet but little understood medium 
of expression. 

And, above all, I hope I have been able to suggest a new kind of 
mental approach to the beauty, serene dignity and spiritual quality of 
the World in which we work and play. Make that beauty a part of your 
life. Record and perpetuate those beauties through this marvelous 
medium of color photography. 

The End 


228 


ALPHABETICAL INDEX 


Subject 


Page 


A 

B 


Atmospheric Haze 


Black and White Prints from Kodachrome 
Black and White Prints from Kodacolor Negatives 

Character Studies in Color. 

Checking Color Correction of Lenses 
Close-up Objects, Exposure Compensation 
Cloud Photography in Kodachrome and Kodacolor 
Color as one of the major cultural influences 

Color in objects, defined. 

Color’s relation to the other arts .... 

Colors that are “advancing” and “receding” . 

Colors associated—the principal colors juxtaposed 
Color association of two intense colors . 

Color association of two colors of equal value 
Color association of Related Colors 
Color association of three intense colors 
Color Balance of Artificial Light type Kodachrome 
Color Balance of Sunlight ..... 

Color Balance of “North Sky” Light 

Color Balance of Sunset Light. 

Color Balance with use of black and/or white 
Color Balance with equal amounts of colors of same intensity an 
Color Balance with colors of same value but of different intensiti 
Color Balance with colors of different values and intensities 
Color Balance with three colors 
Color Compositions—one color 
Color Compositions—two colors 
Color Compositions—three colors 
Color Compositions—four colors 
Color Compositions—-five colors 
Color Composition—Related colors 
Color Composition for Kodacolor shots 
Color Composition for Color Portraits 
Color Correction Filter Uses . 

Color Correction Filters, list of 
Colored Light Sources 

Color Filters for use with Eastman Color Temperature 
Color Filters for use with Harrison Color Meter 
Color Filter uses without a Color Meter 
Color Harmony, basis of . 

Color Intensities and how changed . 

Color Meters and their uses 
Color Prints from Kodachrome 
Color Prints, making dye-printing Positive 
Color Temperature of Artificial Light Sources 
Color Temperature of Sunlight 
Color Wheel of Principal and Intermediate Colors 

Complementary Colors. 

Contrast Control Mask for Color Print making 
Contrast Control in Color Print making . 

Costume Studies in Color .... 


Meter 


d va 
es 


ue 


67 

224 
203 

171 

212 

184 

135 

225 
23 
21 
31 
34 
30 
30 

30 

31 

91 
61 
62 
62 
40 
42 

42 

43 

44 
33 
38 
40 

46 

47 

45 

200-204 

170 
205 
208 
187 
207 
207 
207 

25 

29 

206-207 

213 

219 

92 

68 
27 
40 

217 

217 

171 


229 


















ALPHABETICAL INDEX—Continued 


D 


E 


F 


G 

H 

I 

K 


Subject 

Developing an “eye for color”. 

Developer for Color Print Separation Negatives. 

Developer for Color Print Matrices. 

Diffusing Box for Flower photography. 

Diffusing Screens and their use. . 

Diffusing Screens you can build. 

Diffused Sunlight for better color quality. 

Duplicating Kodachrome Transparencies. 

Eastman Color Temperature Meter. 

Electric Signs and Night Street Scenes in Kodachrome. 

Exposure Compensation for Close-up Objects. 

Exposure Tables for Kodachrome Movies. 

Exposure Tables for Kodacolor—outdoors and indoors. 

Exposure Table for Outdoor Kodachrome shots. 

Exposure Tables, Photoflash illumination ....... 

Exposure Tables for Photoflood illumination. 

Exposure Table for Sunsets. 

Exposure Calculations for outdoor Kodachrome. 

Exposure Calculations for Distant Scenes. 

Exposure Calculations for Kodacolor. 

Exposure Latitude of Kodachrome film. 

Exposure of “dark-colored” subjects. 

Exposure of “light-colored” subjects. 

Exposure of light and neutral colors.. 

Exposure Meter, how to make accurate readings. 

Fall-off of Artificial Light .......... 

Filters for making Separation Negatives from Kodachrome . 

Filter for making “Contrast Control” Mask from Kodachrome 

Flower Photography, flower color pigments. 

Flowers and Gardens in full sunlight ........ 

Flowers back-lighted for greater color saturation ...... 

Flower shots by transmitted light. 

Flower and Garden shots, camera angles. 

Flowers, close-up studies. 

Flowers, photographing individual specimens outdoors. 

Flowers, diffusing screen for photographing individual specimens outdoors 

Flower studies by Artificial Light. 

Flower studies outdoors, with synchronized flash. 

Flower studies in Kodachrome Movies. 

Front Light only. Photoflood illumination. 

Front and Side Light, Photoflood illumination. 

Front and Background Light with Photoflood. 

Front and Back Light, with Photoflood .. 

Gray (or Value) Scale. 

“Graying” Colors—reducing their intensity .. 

Harrison Color Meter. 


Intensity Scale 


Kelvin ratings of Artificial Light Sources 
Kodacolor—an explanation of the process 
Kodacolor Color Rendition 


Page 

22 

222 

223 
182 

129 

130 
65 

224 

206 

186 

184 
195 
204 

85 
120 
105 

185 
79 
82 

202 

86 
59 
58 
77 
74 

104 

218 

218 

174 

177 

176 

176 

177 
181 
181 
182 
182 
183 
193 

97 

100 

101 

101 

29 

32 

207 


32 


92 

199 

200 


230 


















ALPHABETICAL INDEX—Continued 


Subject Page 

Kodacolor shots under various light conditions.201 

Kodacolor Exposures in full sunlight.201 

Kodacolor Exposure Calculations.202 

Kodacolor shots under heavy overcast sky ........ 202 

Kodacolor shots with Daylight type Photoflood.202 

Kodacolor shots with Daylight type Photoflash.203 

Kodacolor—close-up shots in full sunlight ........ 203 

Kodacolor—Black and White Prints from Kodacolor Negatees .... 203 

Kodacolor Film and Print Sizes.204 

Kodacolor Color Composition.204 

Kodacolor Exposure Tables—Outdoors and Indoors ...... 204 

Landscape problem—expansive, light-colored, high value subject . . . 132 

Landscsape subject with extreme value contrasts.133 

Landscape subject partially backlighted.134 

Landscape subjects in flat light, when there is good color contrast . . 136-147 

Landscape subjects that need side-lighting ....... 137-138 

Landscapes, expansive scenes greatly influenced by atmospheric conditions . 141 

Landscapes, side-lighting without loss of color.145 

Landscapes with emphasis on the foreground ....... 146 

Landscapes that are improved through utilization of cloud shadows . . . 149 

Landscapes, back-lighting foreground ......... 150 

Landscapes, shooting into the Sun.151 

Latitude of Kodachrome Film ........... 121 

Lenses, checking for Color Correction.212 

Lamp load capacity of house electrical circuits ....... 96 

Make-up for Color Portraits.169 

Matrix Balance, Color Print making.221 

Mixing Light Sources on Kodachrome shots.93 

Moonlight effects in Kodachrome.187 

Movies in Kodachrome, adding movement to static subjects ..... 190 

Movies in Kodachrome, some landscape problems ....... 191 

Movies in Kodachrome, close-up subjects outdoors.192 

Movies, Flower studies in Kodachrome.193 

Movies, Outdoor Night Kodachrome subjects.193 

Movies, Indoor Kodachrome techniques ......... 194 

Movie Exposure Tables, Outdoors and Indoors ....... 195 

Movie Conversion Table for Various Camera Speeds ...... 195 

Negatives, Separation Negatives for Color Print making.213 

Negative Balance, separation negatives for Color Print making .... 220 

“Old Masters” that offer suggestions for better Color Portraits . 154-155-157-158-159 

Outdoor color subjects of short value range.148 

Photoelectric Cell Sensitivity.75 

Photoflood illumination, using walls as reflectors ....... 98 

Photoflood illumination, using two front lights.99 

Photoflood illumination, using front and side lights.100 

Photoflood illumination, lighting backgrounds.101 

Photoflood illumination, using front and back lights.102 

Photoflood illumination, shadowless backgrounds.103 

Photoflood Exposure Calculations.104 

Photoflash to fill-in shadow areas.109 

Photoflash, synchronized, in outdoor work.Ill 

Photoflash on an Extension Cord, outdoor work.112 

























ALPHABETICAL INDEX—Continued 


R 


S 


T 


Subject Page 

Photoflash to balance sunlight.113 

Photoflash as Sole Light Source.114 

Photoflash and Supplementary Light.116 

Photoflash, multiple outlet battery box for firing several lamps simultaneously 118 

Photoflash, lamp placement suggestions.119 

Placement of Photoflood Lamps.96 

Pola Screens.208 

Portrait Studies—the Casual portrait.155 

Portrait Studies—the Planned portrait.163 

Portrait Lighting—“near-” and “far-shadow” modeling.165 

Portrait Studies, short scale lighting.167 

Portrait Studies—use of arms and hands.167-168 

Portraits—modifying facial faults.168 

Portraits—make-up for color work .......... 169 

Portraits—color composition ........... 170 

Prism Test to create Spectral Color Bands.24 

Prism Test to isolate one Spectral Color Band.24 

Rainbows in Kodachrome and Kodacolor.186 

Reflectors for use in Sunlight, to fill-in shadows.122 

Reflectors for Supplementary Light.122 

Reflectors, effective working distances ......... 123 

Reflectors you can build.128 

Reflectors used with Artificial Light ......... 127 

Reflection Efficiency of Colors.24 

Reflective Power of Colors of the same material ....... 49 

Reflective Power of different textures of same color.51 

Reflected Light as a light source.64 

Reflected Light and how to control it.95 

Related Colors—closely and distantly related.41 

Relation of Areas to Color Balance .......... 38 

Retouching Color Prints.222 

Retouching Separation Negatives.222 

Separation Negatives for making Color Prints.213 

Shutter Speeds—device for checking.210 

Shutter Speeds—how to determine percentage of error.211 

Shutter Speed errors and their effect on color results.209 

Snow Scene Exposure Calculations.81 

Spectrum—The Visible Color Bands and Wave Lengths.23 

Spinning Disc for Color Tests.26 

Stereo Shots in Kodacolor.188 

Still Life Studies in Color ........... 172 

Still Life Study in Kodacolor.203 

Sunset Exposure Table.185 

“Surplus Light” and its effect on Color Results.57 

Testing Color Quality of Artificial Lights.94 

Transmitted Light adds to Color Saturation.66 

Trees in dense forests—a difficult color subject.139 


Y 

W 


Values of Colors and how they are changed . 


Wash-Off Relief Negatives for Color Print making 
Wash-Off Relief Matrices for Color Print Making 
Water photography—close-up subjects . 

Weak Intensity Light, its effect on outdoor color shots 


28 


213 

219 

140 

135 


232 


231 92 






































































































































































































































































































